Reminiscence of the Past
by MyMysteriousSoul
Summary: AU. After losing her memories, Tsuna was taken in as a foster child in the Hibari household. Life isn't easy when you're living with Hibari Kyoya, especially when your home tutor shows up. FEM27!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chapter 1

"_Testing 1, 2, 3" - _Someone speaking Italian

"Testing 1, 2, 3" - Someone speaking Japanese

_Testing 1, 2, 3 -_ Someone's thoughts

Italy

In a small room, inside an old abandoned warehouse, a little girl with brown hair, around the age of ten, just regained consciousness. Her clothes were wrinkled and dirty, torn in some parts, revealing bruises and scratches.

_Where am I?_

Pain started to seep just as she regained her senses. The pain was so agonizing that she would cry out in pain if it weren't for the black tape covering her mouth securely. Both her wrists, as well as her ankles, were tied together very tightly and that didn't seem to be the only reason for her discomfort. A piece dark cloth seemed to obstruct her visions.

She couldn't see much of anything through the blindfold, but that didn't mean her other senses was blocked, too. Through her ears she could still hear voices. There were two or three men in that same room with her, probably somewhere across the room from where she was lying down. Foul air surrounded her, irritating her nose. A distinct smell of nicotine mixed with cheap perfume lingered in the air.

The girl tried hard to remember of the incident that put her into a situation like this. Even after she thought long and hard, there was nothing she could remember. Not just what she had been doing before she lost consciousness, but also all of her memories. She had no recollection of her age, birthday, home or parents. The only thing she knew was that her name was Tsunahime and that was it.

Suddenly, she heard someone stood up. He started walking and with every step he took got louder, Tsuna could only hope he wasn't going into her direction.

Her chest tightened as she felt her pulse going faster and faster from the adrenaline pumping through her vein. Fear overwhelmed her as she trembled.

She felt a bit relieved when the footsteps stopped, but that moment didn't last long

"_Hey kid, are you awake?" _He said in a low and hoarse voice.

_What is he saying?_ She didn't understand a word he said. All of them seemed foreign to her. Somewhere deep down, she felt that something bad would happen if she didn't answer. It felt like her intuition was warning her, but her body just refused to move.

"_Tch, damn brat," _The man stated and kicked her right in the stomach, sending her flying and hitting her back to a wall before meeting the cold, hard ground once again.

The impact loosened the blindfolds and in response to the harsh movement, she tried to cough up blood, but the tape covering her mouth prevented her from doing so. She could only make out a small growl-like sound from her throat. Blood oozed out slowly from behind the tape and trickled down her chin.

The other two men stood up, surprised by his action

"_Hey! You're going to get us into trouble!"_ One complained.

"_Yeah! They told us not to harm her,"_ The other agreed

"_Hmph, what do they even want with the brat? She doesn't look much special to me." _He said.

The man soon returned back to his seat, although Tsuna didn't pay much attention to it. She regarded the pain she received of more importance. Slowly a headache started to appear. It was just a matter of time before she loses consciousness once more.

Just as she started to give in to the pain, the door to the room was opened harshly, making a loud bang noise with it.

"_Freeze! We've got you surrounded!"_

Tsuna could barely make out the sight of men in similar uniforms coming inside the room before everything turned black.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Busy, that was the one word that described the central police headquarters perfectly. Over the last few days, the number of crimes had increased by a long shot. Robbery, murder, theft and many other cases of felony had been reported from every parts of the city.

No one in the headquarters was spared from the hectic work, not even Gabriele Vivaldo, the senior inspector. Being an inspector, he was given a private office to be able to work in private without any disturbance. Yet, even with the privilege he got, it didn't lessen his workload.

Inspector Vivaldo was currently working on a case, and a hard one it is. Under the direct orders of the chief, he was to track down a rogue mafia family under the name of Vischio. Through hard work and research, he finally got a lead. Just two days ago, he had managed to capture three of their subordinates.

True, they mignt not have much of an importance to the family, but this was still a huge step to the downfall of Vischio. Certainly, this arrest was terrific, but they had also brought a problem with them, in the form of a young girl.

Within normal circumstances, the kidnapped child will be given medical attention to and returned to their family as soon as possible. If they were thought to have information needed for the police, the family would be ordered to cooperate with them to the best of their capabilities.

Sadly, the girl's conditions were different. The three men, who were found with her, denied that they were the ones to kidnap her. Their order was to look out for the girl. Further instruction, they said, would have been given the next day. Even an idiot could understand that they were planning something for her.

Identity of the girl was immediately searched, but they only had little work on as the girl didn't have personal belongings. To make matters worse, the girl had went into coma due to head trauma.

The inspector rechecked her files. Only general physical knowledge was clear about her. By the looks of it, she seemed to be a Japanese girl around the age of 9-11.

Knock! Knock!

His attention was instantly diverted to the door. "_Come in_," calmly, he said.

It was soon opened, revealing one of the inspector's subordinates, one he had instructed to give him details of the girl's state.

"_Sir, I'm here to inform you that the girl had awoken,_" His tone was polite and clear at the same time

"_I see, then quickly question her for any personal details. Also, don't forget to ask her for any particular information regarding her kidnappers and her relation to the mafia, if there is any._"

At the command, the subordinate seemed to have become nervous, before replying, "_I-I have already done that actually, sir"_

Vivaldo waited for him to continue, but he has not looked up from the floor since his command. _Did he think he was going to be punished?_

"_Well? What are you waiting for? Give me a full report of what happened_."

"_A-ah yes!_" He looked up, cleared his throat before continuing. "_During the questioning, we have found out that the girl does not speak Italian. Therefore, an interpreter was called in. It seems that she can only understand Japanese. On more questioning, we have also found out that she seemed to have suffered from amnesia. Consequently, the only information we could get out from her was that her given name is Tsunahime._"

_Amnesia, huh?_ Now things have gotten from worse to worst. He had seen many cases involving memory losses before. The best way to treat them, in his opinion, is to let the patient lead his everyday normal live as he did before. Nostalgia usually helped their ability to remember the best.

"_Okay,"_ he nodded in understatement. _"Continue to monitor over her progress in healing. Report back to me as soon as anything important happens."_

"_Yes, sir!"_ He saluted him quickly before heading towards the door to leave.

"_And…_" Vivaldo proceeded, stopping him just as he was about to leave the room.

"Yes?" He said, wondering what his superior was going to say.

He glanced at his desk where a framed picture of him and another person together was placed.

_I guess I should ask for his help. Considering that he is Japanese, this should be the best option._

"_Contact Hibari Kyousuke, the Japanese policeman. I have something of urgency to be discussed with him."_

* * *

><p>First chapter done!<p>

Anyways this is my second KHR fanfic, the other being the one shot I made a few months earlier. By the way, for that Inspector Gabriele Vivaldo guy, he's just a side character I made up for this chapter. You guys don't really need to remember his name. But for the Vischio mafia, It's going to be important in the latter chapters so just keep it in mind.

The name Vischio is actually italian for mistletoe. It's kind of lame, but I got the idea after listening to Justin Bieber's song. I thought it would fit in easily since after doing some research, mistletoe actually means parasite.

My target is to update the story at least once every month. That means the next chapter is in March. Okay, enough of my blabbering, I should put in good closing for the chapter.

**Why doesn't Tsuna remember anything?**

**Why was she kidnapped?**

**And what is the truth behind her identity?**

**Find out these and more in the next chapter.**

P.S. By the way, did any of you guys realize I put a huge amount of commas in the story? If you do, then congratulations, you, like my friend who had proofread this chapter, just found out I like to spam commas. LOL.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn! I'm too crazy to own it!

Chapter 2

* * *

><p>"<em>Testing 1, 2, 3" <em>Someone speaking in Italy

"Testing 1, 2, 3" Someone speaking in Japanese

_Testing 1, 2, 3 _Someone's thoughts

* * *

><p>Three years later…<p>

Namimori, a peaceful town located in Japan, within just a few hours from Tokyo. Generally, the town was plain. Too plain in fact, that one might even call it mundane. To me, on the other hand, it was the perfect image of home.

My name is Tsunahime. Three years ago, the Italian Police Force saved me from some mafia men who had kidnapped me. Unfortunately, the incident seemed to have caused some brain damages, resulting my memory loss. Due to this loss, the police couldn't identify me and therefore couldn't return me to my family.

The police inspector, who was in charge of me, deduced that I might have been someone specially important in the underworld and my memory could help them with their case. Apparently, he thought that if I were to go to school like a normal girl, my memories could come back sooner. Thus, he decided to give the responsibility of my well being to a friend of his, a Japanese policeman who goes by the name of Hibari Kyosuke. His family lives here, in this boring town. I've been in the care of the Hibari family ever since.

Yet, to this very day, I still do not have any recollection of what so ever life I might have lived before. Talking about disappointing.

Hibari Kyosuke is a seemingly-cold-looking responsible man. But, despite his cold looks, Hibari Kyosuke is an honorable and generous man. He is often strict and seems to care more for his job then his family, but in truth, he loves his family the most, which is why he works hard, sometimes too hard even, just to make sure his son can live a happy life. Right now, however, he is in Italy. I don't know the exact reason for why he is in there. I guess that it has something to do with my case. Still, it's just an assumption.

With Hibari Kyosuke gone, the only occupants of the house are only Hibari Kyosuke's son, Hibari Kyoya and the plain me, Tsunahime. The matriach of the house had passed away after giving birth to Kyoya. Before I came here, when he was still a little child even, Kyoya-kun was often left alone, as Kyosuke's work requires him to leave the house early and come back home late. Sometimes, he may not even come home. Growing up in those situations, no wonder Kyoya-kun became so cold.

Currently, Kyoya-kun leads an organization called the Disciplinary Committee at Namimori Middle, the school where we both go. The committee is actually a group of delinquents. Rumor has told that Kyoya-kun made it to satisfy his blood lust. Regardless of other people's views, I believe that Kyoya-kun made the group in hopes to be like his father, protecting his beloved town, or school, in his own special way. Deep down, I know he has great respect for his father.

All the fees for my welfare as well as my school fees are paid by the Kyosuke-san. Italian police officers had tried to give some money to him for taking care of me, but Kyosuke-san had rejected them all. His reason being that 'I have agreed to be responsible for her. Therefore I would keep that agreement to the very end'. I was a stranger in his house, yet he had accepted me in open hands. No matter what happens I will always be grateful to him. Someday, I wish I could repay him back.

Starting from mopping the floors, to washing the dishes, to doing the laundry, I have done all the household chores. Joined together with going to school and doing schoolwork, that's what my everyday life is composed of. I never thought those days were going to end soon.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Inside a house in the Namimori residential area, Tsuna was just about to leave for school.

"I'm leaving!" said the girl before leaving through the front door. After locking the door she set out to go to Namimori Middle.

Sighing, she thought to herself, _why can't I ever do anything right? I've always studied hard for Kyosuke-san's sake, but I don't seem to improve. My grades are all still below average._

_Oh yeah! That reminds me, we have Gym for the first class! I don't want to make my team lose again! I can't skip either. Kyoya-kun will kill me if did. _She ruffled her hair in frustration. Truth to behold, Tsuna doesn't really care about her looks, well not much anyway. Her looks were just about average and she was never really concerned with what other people think about her. Besides, she would always be known as no-good Tsuna for her uselessness

Tsuna's head was way up in the clouds that she didn't realize a baby is standing right in front of her.

"Ciaossu!" said the child, surprising Tsuna.

"Hiii!" Tsuna shouted in astonishment. The sudden greeting made Tsuna lost his balance and fell. Falling flat on her bottom.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed and rubbed her backside in hopes of soothing the pain as she looked towards the culprit for her slip. Sitting down, she was now face to face with the strange infant.

What she saw was a strange sight indeed, because the baby was wearing a suit that oddly suits him well. With a fedora on his head along with a chameleon on top, Tsuna had never seen that kid before, if she did, she would have remembered such a peculiar child.

"Hey there, where's your care-taker? Do you live around here? I've never seen you before." Said Tsuna to the child.

"Don't you remember me, Tsuna?" The child questioned.

Now, that statement made Tsuna even more confused. Had she met the child before? He did seem familiar, but Tsuna would have remembered meeting such an unusual kid before.

"Have we ever met before?" Tsuna asked, tilting her head to the side.

Before the infant had a chance to reply, the sound of Namimori Middle bell was heard, snapping Tsuna back to reality.

"Aah! I'm going to be late for school!" Dusting off her skirt while standing, she left for school in a hurry. Kyoya would definitely not be happy with her. Still, deep down, she still wondered who exactly was that baby.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Later in the day, school was over and students were going home, including Tsunahime. She almost had to go through detention and extra schoolwork by being late, but she managed to slip in time, just barely though.

Now, Tsuna is waiting for the green man to appear so that she could cross the street. It was during this time that she noticed a ball was rolling down to the middle of the street and a small preschooler coming after it. Of course, if there was no car going to pass by, there was no need to panic. Instead, a simple warning would suffice. Unfortunately one was heading this way, and it was just any ordinary car. In fact, it was a truck.

No sooner after the kid picked up his ball, he became aware of where he is he stared at the on coming truck. Frozen on the spot with fear.

From the sidewalk Tsuna could only watch as the scene unfolds before him. The oncoming truck driver had already spotted the child. Slamming the brakes as fast as he can while sounding his horn to signal.

In just a couple of seconds, Tsuna knew if she didn't that young boy's life will be over, especially with the truck unable to slow down in time. She only had two choices, to save his life, while risking her own or prioritize her own life and watch the tragic accident of the death of a young boy.

Surely, Tsuna couldn't possibly pick the latter. If she watches him die without doing anything at all, all her life she won't be able to forgive herself. So, she had no choice but to take the first option.

_I'm sorry Kyosuke-san, even though you had given so for me, I can never return back the favor now. And Kyoya-kun…But, I have to this!_

Tsuna ran towards the boy, dropping her school bag in the process. With her ears, she could clearly hear the truck's horn, shouting at them to get out of the way.

Reaching out, she jumped and grabbed the boy, pulling him into an embrace to shield him from the harsh impact of the truck. Horns of the truck sounded louder than ever, as time seemed to pass by slowly for her. She hoped that she could get out of the way in time, but she knew, it was too late. The truck is much too close.

_This is it. This is my end._

Exactly after that thought crossed her mind, she felt warmth from her head, spreading throughout her body and fueled her with a brand new supply of energy. Ironically, even though she is going to die, she felt more alive than ever.

Soon enough, the truck collided with Tsuna's body, sending both of them flying and the truck, which tried to change its direction to avoid them, crashing to a nearby telephone pole.

The hit consequent in Tsuna, who still held the boy in her embrace, tumbling to a house, making it crack from the pressure and pulled by the gravity back to the ground. Lying down on the stone pavement, the flame on Tsuna's forehead diminished.

People who had heard the loud sounds from the crash immediately gathered around.

"What happened?"

"There's been an accident!"

"Somebody call an ambulance there is an injured person here."

"Are they dead?"

Groaning, Tsuna tried to get up. Her head was pounding and she felt her whole body ache. The boy she saved seemed to still be conscious to as she felt him shifted.

"They're alive!"

"It's a miracle!"

Once the crowd knew both Tsuna and the boy was alive shrieks of happiness and relief was heard. Some of the people in the crowd even tried to help both kids.

It turns out that there were no serious injuries from the accident. The driver only had only a minor concussion, while the boy was not harmed in any ways. Tsuna didn't even have a scratch on her. Sure, her body ached, but it was nothing that needed serious care for. The only victims from this incident are the truck, the telephone pole and the wall.

Apparently, someone did call for an ambulance, because in a few minutes one came. They took the truck driver with them for some extra check ups. They also tried to bring Tsuna to the hospital, too. However, Tsuna managed to convince them she was fine. And as for the boy, his mother quickly came for him. After she thanked Tsuna dozen times, she left. Taking the crowd with her.

When Tsuna went back to going back home, she could hardly believe what happened.

_Did that really just happened?_

Her pulse still raced when she replays back the incident on her mind. Tsuna was relieved she had managed to survive the accident. Yet, something was bothering her. It was strange when her forehead suddenly felt warm. The way she felt that time, was astonishing. She had never felt that way before. That was also probably the reason she had escaped with no injuries. _What was that?_

"That was the Dying Will Mode," came a familiar voice, seemingly to have read her mind.

The owner of the voice was the strange baby from that morning. He was standing right in front of her looking up at her.

"You're the baby from this morning," uttered Tsuna. "What are you doing here?"

"My name is Reborn, and you may not remember this, but I was and still am your home tutor."

* * *

><p>Chapter 2 uploaded! XD<p>

Unlike what I put in the last author's note, I didn't really put in much of an explanation in this chapter. But hey, at least I updated right? I just needed a way to put Reborn in first. So, most of the explanation is in the next chapter. Just wait for it to come out next month, 'kay?

Anyways, I've proofread the chapter myself, but I don't know whether it's that accurate or not. If there's any grammar or spelling please forgive me.

Thanks for reading this chapter and I would really appreciate it if you leave a review.

Ciao


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Chapter 3

"No-good Tsuna, make a cup of coffee for me," ordered Reborn.

"Okay…" For a second Tsuna went along with the baby's request. That is, until realization hit her. "Wait a minute, why are you ordering me to make you some coffee? To be exact, why did you even follow me home? I told you to go back to your own house or something."

"That's because I'm your home tutor," explained Reborn as if that was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That doesn't even make sense! Even if I was your student, why would I make coffee for a one-year-old?" protested Tsuna.

Pulling out a gun from his pocket he pointed towards Tsuna, ready to shoot. "Just do it."

"I-is that a re-real gun?" she asked, both shocked and disbelieved. Obviously the holder gun is a baby, anyone with eyes can see that, therefore it was just silly for Tsuna to be afraid and believe it is real. Yet, maybe since the baby holding the gun is wearing a suit, it looked very much like the actual thing.

Reborn smirked, tightening his grip. "Do you want to find out?"

"Hiiiii!"

In the kitchen of Hibari's house, Tsuna ended up making him the coffee, while Reborn sat next to the kitchen counter. It is at times like this that Tsuna feels that all her hard work to learn how to use the coffee maker finally paid off. Just after she inserted in the coffee filter, she tried to make small talk with Reborn.

"So, where do you really live, Reborn-chan?"

"I'm a hitman so I don't have any real home. But, my home town is in Italy."

"Yeah, right," came Tsuna's sarcastic comment, while she poured in the coffee beans.

"You don't believe me?"

"Of course not. Like I'll believe a one-year-old baby saying he is a hitman. Come on, I know I'm stupid, but I'm not that stupid to fall to this nonsense." Tsuna said, turning around face to face with Reborn. She already put in the water and pushed the button. It's just a matter of time until the coffee's done.

"Oh really?" Reborn said in a challenging tone. "Then can you explain what happened earlier?"

Reborn didn't specifically inform her which part of the earlier incident, yet Tsuna knew exactly which bit he meant. He definitely meant the part where a flame appeared out of nowhere on Tsuna's forehead that strangely didn't burn any part of her body and the odd feeling that came along with it. It wasn't everyday she could feel that exhilarating feeling. What did he call that bizarreness? Ducking Will Mode, Dying Meal Mode, or was it Drying Will Mode? That all sound strange to her.

In the end she couldn't answer, but she didn't have to as a little noise that signaled the completion of the pot of coffee interrupted them before she got the chance to answer.

She took the pot and poured Reborn a cup.

Seeing that his student wasn't going to answer, he sighed. If this keeps up he would end up explaining everything from the beginning all over again. It couldn't be helped though. If Tsuna doesn't even remember her Spartan of a home tutor what chance does she have in remembering everything else? "As I said earlier, that was the Dying Will Mode."

_Oh that's right! It's the Dying Will Mode!_ She screamed in her thoughts, all the while placing the pot in front of her. She didn't bother putting it back to be heated, this way it will be much more easier to refill the cup.

"It's a state in which the user releases all temporary safety switches to complete one goal, the user's last dying will. In exchange for removing the body's limiters and risking his/her life, the user can summon out their innermost powers. Usually a person can only go into Dying Will Bullet, like this." Out of his pocket, Reborn fished out a small red bullet and gave it to Tsuna. The bullet was little and had a shiny ruby like shine. Upon closer observation, a picture of an orange flame can be seen with a pair of eyes.

Tsuna could barely believe it all. Yet, she couldn't deny it either. What the heck is a Dying Will Mode anyways? She had never heard of it until now. All of Reborn's explanation seemed gibberish. She half expected someone to come out and shouted something like she was on some kind of a practical joke show or someone's great idea of a prank even if she knew that it definitely wasn't the case. After all, she'd experienced the so-called Dying Will Mode herself. Nevertheless, everything seemed so bizarre that it was hard to imagine that everything just seemed so normal that morning.

"How come I've never heard of a Dying Will Mode or Bullet before? If it is that awesome, shouldn't it be known world-wide?" questioned Tsuna, tilting her head to the side.

"The Dying Will Bullet is specially made by the Vongola Famiglia. It is a highly classified product of the mafia world. Only important members of the family know about its existence."

"Wait a minute, did you just say Vongola Family? As in a mafia family? What does the mafia even have to do with this?" Tsuna thought that she had had enough experience with the mafia for a lifetime, but now it seems that that was only the beginning of all things that is to come.

"On the contrary, everything about you is related to the mafia. After all, you are Tsunahime Sawada, daughter to Iemitsu Sawada and Nana Sawada as well as the future tenth boss of Vongola Famiglia."

A massive headache attacked her mind. Not only was it hard for Tsuna to process all of the new information, but also for a baby to claim she is some heiress to some evil mafia family, that's just pushing it too far. She tried to protest and slammed her hands on the counter, however she completely forgot she had put a pot of coffee in front of her. Due to her action the pot fell over and spilled on her uniform and floor, making her smell like the caffeine drink.

"You should probably clean that up, no-good Tsuna."

_Like that isn't obvious_, thought Tsuna, irritated by both herself and the baby. Just why is she so clumsy?

Sighing in frustration she decided to take a cloth and wipe the spilled coffee on the floor and at the same time continued her interrogation for Reborn.

"So you're telling me I'm some kind of future boss for a mafia family? You've got to be joking. There is no way I can be a mafia boss. I'm no-good Tsuna for goodness sake. And aren't mafia bosses supposed to be guys?"

"First of all, as I said before, I'm a hitman, so I don't joke. Second, your case is special. True, heads of mafia family's are usually males and amongst all four candidates you are the only female candidate and also the youngest one. Naturally, you weren't exactly on the top of the list for the next boss."

"So… does that mean I'm not the next boss of some evil mafia family thingy?" She halted her actions for a moment, feeling a bit relieved. However, as quick as it came, it was gone. Disappeared because of Reborn's next explanation.

"Well, in the beginning, yes. However, because you were also a candidate, you were raised up to be a great since a young age both mentally and physically, despite your small chance on becoming the next boss. It was during your training that it was found out that you were the most adapted to use the Dying Will Flame. This is probably because you have the purest Vongola blood in your veins."

"The purest Vongola blood?"

"In your body, the blood of the first generation Vongola boss runs thickest. It is said that this is so because you have an uninterrupted bloodline with the first Vongola boss. You are the most similar compared to the other candidates to the first Vongola boss. How you act, your way of fighting, your Hyper Intuition and also the ability to go into Dying Will Mode upon reflex. That was why you could go into the Dying Will Mode without being shot with a Dying Will Bullet. It automatically activates when you are standing right in the face of death."

Sighing, Tsuna had no choice but to believe Reborn. There is no way a baby, even if he is Reborn, to make that up all by himself. To think she is much more related to the mafia then she could have ever guessed. Sure, she knew she probably had some connection to the mafia, still she didn't knew she had been connected even through her family tree. If Tsuna's great-great-great who knows how much great grandfather had decided to have a normal life and stay away from the mafia world, she wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. Now that the kitchen was already clean, she decided to clean herself too.

Reborn saw as Tsuna decided to get out of the room and inquired, "No-good Tsuna, where are you going?"

"If you haven't noticed, I still smell like coffee here. So, I'm going to clean myself up for a bit. While waiting you can help yourself to anything in the kitchen. Just don't get into any trouble, 'kay?" She left the kitchen and went into the hallways. Her head was still aching a bit but not as bad as before. Taking a left turn she opened the door to the bathroom.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Tsuna came out of the shower box dripping wet and wrapped herself with a towel. Leaving a guest unattended is not the most polite thing to do. Heck, it is rude and Tsuna knew that. Even so, there was no way she could withstand smelling like freshly brewed coffee any longer. She sometimes makes the drink for her guardian, but she never liked drinking it herself. It was too bitter for her taste, she'd preffer something sweet instead.

Anyhow, those were the circumstances for her situation right now. The brunette had taken out of her way to make the shower as quickly as possible to keep Reborn from waiting too long. He'd better appreciate her effort.

Walking over to take her clothing on the bathroom table, she passed by a mirror. Her reflection wasn't anything special. Just plain ol' no-good Tsuna. One that she sees every single day of her life. She just can't help to stop and look at it more.

Touching the image of her own face, Tsuna pondered. Throughout her stay here in Japan, no, even since before that, she had always wondered what she was like when she was merely a small child. Where she lived, who lived with her, who she hung out with, it all felt very strange not to know any of these. Sometimes, she wished that she was just a typical normal girl - A kind of girl that worries about schoolwork and social status, not wondering about her past.

With Reborn around, it seems that the chance of her being normal is slipping away rapidly. At the same time, he might be the exact person to unlock her memories.

_Okay, it's decided. I'll stick with Reborn for the time being and… perhaps believe his words… There is no harm in that, right?_

CRASH!

A loud sound broke Tsuna's train of thoughts. Panic immediately arises inside her.

_Did a burglar come in? No, if that were the case, Reborn would probably have shot him already._ Tsuna reminisced how Reborn didn't think twice to point his gun at her. _Then, did he break something? ... That seemed unlikely. Still, I need to make sure what happened._

Stupidly, Tsuna rushed out of the bathroom with only a towel covering her and ran to the kitchen, the place that she predicted where the sound had come from. And the sight in front of her very eyes astonished her.

_Kyoya-kun is back!_

~MyMysteriousSoul~

When Kyoya had finished all his work, the sun had already starting to set. Therefore, by the time he got home it was already dark out. He had caught some more delinquents messing up his order of Namimori that day and consequently, he wasn't exactly in a good mood.

Once he got home, it didn't take a genius to know that there was someone else in the house other than him and that herbivore his father picked out. He could easily notice the presence when he got home. Whoever it is, he most definitely wasn't happy to receive a guess right now and even if he/she was someone the herbivore brought with her to come over, he still didn't like anyone coming to his house without his approval, especially since his father was gone.

Exactly after he found the intruder in the kitchen, strangely without the herbivore in sight, he took out his tonfas and directly pounced to attack him. What he didn't expect was the intruder was a baby and the fact that his attack was blocked.

"Who are you, herbivore?" he asked as Reborn blocked his tonfa with his chameleon that had changed into a gun. Reborn didn't even show the slightest attention to the attack. He just kept drinking his cup of coffee without any signs of distress.

Landing back a good distance from the baby, he commented, "Wow, you're good."

It was then that Tsuna decided to come back from the bathroom. She gasped in surprise before saying, "Kyoya-kun you're back!"

Observing the scene from Kyoya to Reborn, she didn't miss the tonfa and gun being held out. By the looks of things, Tsuna immediately thought the two men were going into a fight even if Reborn was paying more attention to his cup of coffee then Kyoya.

"Kyoya-kun, wait! Please don't hurt him! This is Reborn, as strange as it seems, he is going to help me get my memories back so don't hurt him." Exclaimed the girl standing in between Reborn and Hibari. Suprisingly, she doesn't seem to notice of her state of undress

In truth, Kyoya would much rather fight the infant then listen to what the herbivore said. He had immediately sensed how strong that infant is and he really wanted to test out how strong he is. Nonetheless, the sight of his apparent housemate seemed to blow a fuse in him. The herbivore was a part of his father's job, and as much as he wanted to ignore her and continue to have with amazingly strong baby, he couldn't stand the fact that anyone, even if he is a mere baby, was looking at her.

The two males glanced at each other and somehow they got into a silent agreement that Tsuna shouldn't be walking around the house like that. he put his tonfas away the same happened with Reborn and his gun, turning back into the chameleon it once was.

"Herbivore, go and dress yourself up. For a girl to be wearing only a towel in this situation is highly inappropriate. Consider this as your only warning, before I will do something about the matter myself."

For a moment Tsuna was confused, only until his sentence clicked in her mind did she felt her cheeks getting warmer. "Hiiii! I'm so sorry! I'll go right now!" Gripping at her towel as tightly as she could in her flustered state she ran quickly back to her room.

Seemingly that there was no longer any use of him in the room, Hibari tried to leave the kitchen, which is until Reborn spoke, "Hibari, if Tsuna was to leave someday, what would you do?"

Stopped dead at his tracks, he glanced back at the infant.

"The herbivore is mine. I will decide whether she could leave or not." And exactly like that, Hibari left the room.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

For once Tsuna was glad Kyoya left earlier that morning. A night has already passed and she has yet to get over her embarrassment. If Kyoya were still around she just wouldn't know how she'd face him. Last night, at dinner, Tsuna had even tried to avoid eye contact with him. Confusing the prefect with her strange behavior.

Sighing as she thought, _why can't I be more perfect? At the least, then, Kyoya-kun would see me as an equal._

SLAP!

Tsuna fell with a loud thud, while exclaiming a "Kyaa!" simultaneously.

"What are you day dreaming for, you're going to be late for school." Reborn had in his hands a large green fan, seemingly a form of his pet Leon.

Tsuna immediately looked at the clock when Reborn had spoken of time, and he was right! In just ten minutes the school bell will ring.

"I'm going to be late!" She shouted, immediately wearing her shoes and ran off the door. Hustling to get to school in time.

Throughout last night Reborn had apparently proclaimed that he is going to live them too for now on. At first Tsuna had protested and fot threatened to be shot once again by Reborn as a result. Kyoya didn't seem to care much so all's well that ends well.

Luck was on Tsuna's side that morning, since she managed to get to class right before the bell ring._ If only everyday could be like this,_ she thought.

Without a moment to lose, her homeroom teacher immediately showed up. At the exact moment he came in, Tsuna immediately knew something different was going to happen. Her gut was telling her so. The glimpse of silver hair she saw outside also helped too.

"Today, we have a new student joining our class." Informed the teacher.

_A transfer student? That would explain that glimpse of silver hair I saw._

"It maybe a strange time of the year to transfer, but I hope you all can get along with. He hass just returned to his home country from studying in Italy as an overseas student."

_Italy, isn't that where Reborn said I came from?_

Anticipation was clear on Tsuna's face as she watched the classroom door. She wanted to get to know the new student more. Her interest had perked up knowing that this kid probably grew up in her homeland. Her wait wasn't prolonged, for the class teacher quickly told him to come in.

The person who entered was the perfect example of a delinquent. Uniform worn in a sloppy, yet stylish kind of way. Steel necklaces hung from his neck. Silver hair matched his steel grey eyes. With a scowl on his face, he practically screamed badass. It was no mystery the girls in the class immediately started gossiping about him.

Like the other girls around her, Tsuna also found herself mesmerized by the boy's looks, but in a different way than the rest of them. A strange feeling had overcome her. Somehow she felt as if she had met him before. What was that feeling called again? Nostalgia?

For a second, their eyes met and in that short span of time, Tsuna felt as if she was looking to the eyes of a dog who had just been reunited with it's master. Tsuna could have sworn she saw a tail, wagging happily behind him.

As soon as the expression came, it was gone, and a growl replaced it.

"Everyone, please welcome Gokudera Hayato."

A/N: Another end of the month update! Well actually this chapter was due last week, but I had completely forgotten I had my preliminary exams that week. I couldn't let my grades fall more than it already has so I can only update now.

And you guys might want to read this, it's kind of important. Since I have my IGCSE tests next month, **I will not update in May**. I'm sorry that I couldn't keep my words to update every month! Instead, to make up for it, I will update twice in June. Well, at least I hope I can. I'm planning to post chapter 4 in June 5. I hope you guys are looking forward to it! While waiting why don't you guys review? I'll even accept anonymous review! I have always love to read what you guys think about the story.

I didn't put this in before, but I'll put it in this time:

Kurayami Akuma (anonymus), ezcap1st, Akahama Nera, lixna, Ayz283, Aya-chan's Alice and BelletigerBT

Thank you all so much for reviewing! Especially **Aya-chan's Alice** and **BelletigerBT** for reviewing twice. You guys rock! Sorry for any typos! Feel free to tell any 'cause I'll try to fix it immediately.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chapter 4

On the rooftop of Namimori Middle, our dearest Tsunahime was enjoying her lunch with her little tutor sitting on her head.

"Reborn, what are you doing on top of my head?" asked her, confused to the mini hitman's actions. Somehow the baby never failed in surprising her with something strange. Why he is even on the roof with her, Tsuna will never know.

"Sitting down of course, no-good Tsuna," came his reply, as if sitting on top of one's head was a normal thing to do.

"Of course I know that!" replied Tsuna, frustrated. Upon deciding that she could never win by reasoning with the infant, she gave up in trying to pry him off of her. Sooner or later, he probably would get off at some point. Besides, she's been in good spirits all day, there's no need to ruin it.

For every single day since she entered Namimori Middle, Tsuna has always spend her break time on the roof. Truth to be hold, she didn't have any friends. Everyone around her were just too afraid to hang out with someone related to Hibari Kyoya or just didn't like being with useless Tsuna. Therefore she never really liked staying in the class during recess. If she did stay in class, those of her classmates that eat and gossiped with each other just felt like they were mocking her lonely state.

Today though there was an extra reason to why she didn't want to be in class. The reason was none other than the new student. Ever since he came, he kept looking at Tsuna whenever he got the chance. And when their eyes did met, the look he threw of her was similar to the kind Tsuna would expect from a kid that just found her favorite toy. Nevertheless, she was the only one that received that special attention. If it were anyone else, he'd growl or scowl or just glared to scare the wits out of the unfortunate person.

Tsuna hadn't got a clue to his strange behavior. There was only one thing she knew about him, that is, he creeps her out. So, when the bell rang, Tsuna didn't want to take any chances and took off, sacrificing the opportunity to have lunch with her new found friends.

Now that got Tsuna thinking, shouldn't she have had friends when she was younger? There wasn't anyone she could ask to so she never really considered it before. But now her home tutor is here. Reborn should know about it, right?

"Hey, Reborn, can I ask you a question?"

"Stupid Tsuna, you just did." The way Reborn was answering her questions are really starting to get on her nerves

"That's not what I meant!" Is asking for a decent reply that hard?

Reborn didn't say anything, but Tsuna knows he's listening. Sighing, she continued.

"Had I…, I mean, Did I have friends before? When, you know, I was younger?" Right after those words came out, Tsuna instantly felt nervous, but at the same time excited. She can't decide whether she wants to hear the answer or not.

"There aren't a lot of children in the mafia and you were born a shy child…"

_I knew it! I didn't have any friends. I've been so useless even as a kid. Heck, that's probably why Reborn nick named me no-good Tsuna. I'm just no good at everything._

"But, you did have a few friends."

_Eh? Did he just say I had friends? No way, I must've heard wrong._ As astonished as she was, she heard it right off of Reborn's mouth, so it wouldn't be a lie, right? Yet, she can't believe it. Unconsciously she left her mouth open, gaping as if Reborn had grown a second head.

SMACK!

Using a paper fan almost twice the size of him, Reborn slapped Tsuna's face. Leaving a bright red mark in its place.

"Ouch!" cried Tsuna painfully, holding her right cheek.

"Don't make that kind of face, you look stupid."

While Tsuna really wanted to complain to her teacher, she's better off staying quiet. Even if she did it wouldn't do much of anything. Instead, she prefers to question him. There's a ton of questions pilling in her head.

"I had friends? It's so hard to believe."

"In the mafia world, you were one of the chosen candidates for boss, so of course, you would have to have subordinates. That was why you were immediately introduced to the other mafia children around your age. You were friendly enough to befriend all of them, though there was one boy in particular you were close to."

"Really? What is he like?"

"You should see for yourself. He is supposed to be in town right now. He immediately came here after I confirmed your existence."

Before Tsuna managed to continue interrogate reborn for her past, the door to the rooftop slammed open. With how loud it had sounded, it was a miracle the door didn't broke. It did, however, make a certain girl jump in her seat. Causing the baby above her to go back down to the steadier floor

"Hime!" came a shout from the once closed door. Speaker of the said voice was no one other than the new silver haired new student.

"Hiii!" screamed Tsuna. What did he want? Was he mad that Tsuna had run off before? Is he going to beat her up? He did, after all looked like one of those gangsters she saw in movies.

Step by step, Gokudera Hayato inched closer to Tsuna. While Tsuna tried to back up. Unfortunately the wiring fence behind her didn't let her do so. So, she closed her eyes, if he wanted to harm her any way at all, she wanted to brace herself.

Waiting for an impact that never came, Tsuna slowly opened her eyes and a pair of shoes came into her line of vision. Gradually, she tried to look up and was surprised to what she saw. He was actually shaking?

"Hime, I can't believe I get to see you again," said Gokudera, sinking to his knees and grabbed Tsuna's shoulder, coming face to face to his most respected person. His eyes shining with relieve and a spark of excitement.

On the other hand, Tsuna is having quite a hard time processing what her classmate had just said. Does he know her from somewhere?

"Um…"started Tsuna, uncomfortable in the situation she is in. "Do I know you?"

Four words. It was just four simple words, yet it felt as if those four words had ripped Gokudera's heart to pieces. Still in shock, he let go of Tsunahime and put his hands on the ground instead, supporting his body from collapsing down to the cold floor.

When Reborn first told him Tsunahime was still alive and healthy, no words can contain the jumble of emotions he felt. All his feelings, anxiety, relief, happy mixed together. He was so grateful he couldn't really work up anything else the infant tutor had told him, including the fact that Tsuna lost her memories.

His eyes felt warm, as he was no longer able to control all the emotions he had. The sadness from her disappearance, the happiness from her reappearance, the anxiety to reunite, and finally, the depression from the truth were all flowing after being kept back all this time.

"I've failed."

"Huh?"

"I have failed as your right hand man. To be forgotten by you, that means that I am incompetent to serve you. Even though I have made it my life long dream to be of help for you." Misery was clear in his tone.

Turning right, Tsuna came to face Reborn. She is silently asking him to help her.

Reborn knew from one look what his student was asking, but he was not willing to give in to what his student wants. Teaching her, however, was a different story.

"Figure it out yourself. Tsuna, you are a mafia boss. You're a complete failure if you can't even inspirit one of your subordinates"

"But I don't even want to be a mafia boss!" Tsuna hissed, still lowering down her voice, being very aware of the kneeling boy in front of her.

Tsuna looked back towards Gokudera and sighed. I guess it was kind of heartless to say she doesn't know him that bluntly. For a reaction like this, he must have known her at one point.

Gokudera was still down in the dumps when he felt a hand pat him on the head. That very action made Gokudera look up to see the culprit and of course, it was no one other than his favorite boss.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that"

He looked at her as she used one hand to pat him and the other to awkwardly scratching the back of her neck, a bit lost on what she was supposed to do.

"So please, cheer up. You haven't done anything wrong and the cause of your sadness is most probably my fault for forgetting."

To Tsuna it may just a few sentences, but to Gokudera it was an entirely different thing. His boss had just blamed herself for his misfortune. How much caring could she be?

"You're too kind Hime! I'm the luckiest guy in the world to be serving under you!" cried Gokudera and pulled Tsuna into an embrace.

Gokudera may or may not be someone close to her in the past, but it doesn't change the fact right now, he is a stranger to Tsunahime. Thus, being hugged by him should have felt uncomfortable. Even so, Tsuna didn't mind it one bit. Being in Gokudera's felt the complete opposite of comfortable. It felt warm, nice and with a hint of nostalgia.

"Students should never display any form of affection within the school grounds." Someone said, the voice was of one Tsuna knows all too well. Realizing whom it was, Tsuna immediately pushed Gokudera away and flail her arms out in denial.

"Kyoya-kun! This isn't what it looks like. Gokudera Hayato is new here an-" Before Tsuna could finish her explanation, she was cut off by the infamous skylark.

"A new student, huh? Then I should show him who's in charge here." With one quick move, Hibari Kyoya took out both his tonfa, posing to fight.

"Wait, no-" Once again, Tsuna was cut off, however this time, it was by Gokudera who stepped up in front of her.

"Don't worry, Hime! I'll protect you!" said Gokudera. With a lighted cigarette in his mouth, he took out his dynamites, holding 4 in each arm.

"No, Gokudera-san don-" It was useless. She couldn't stop the fight.

Gokudera no longer paid his boss any attention. He was too focused on defeating the person who interrupted his reunion with Tsuna. He charged forward, as did his enemy and before Tsuna knew what happened, an explosion was heard and clouds of dust surrounded her.

Coughing, Tsuna managed to break free of the thick layer of soot. Reborn was the first person she saw after she got out. The fight between the two highschool boys was still on with Hibari having the upper hand.

"Reborn! We have to stop them."

"How can we stop them? Do you really think you can barge in the midst of their fight and hope they'll stop? It isn't that simple, no-good Tsuna."

"Well at least we have to try!'' After showing one last determined look to Reborn, Tsuna rushed off.

Seeing his student's back as she ran, Reborn fixed his hat and smiled.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the roof, Gokudera was having a very hard time matching up to Hibari's attacks. Dodged and blocked as he might, he would still get hit the moment he let his guard down the slightest bit. As a mid-ranged fighter, Gokudera was at a serious disadvantage. In a close combat like this, he wouldn't be able to use his explosives without hurting himself. Yet at the same time, he knew he wouldn't last long if this continued.

"Tch," clicked Gokudera's tongue. There was no other way than to take the risk. Fishing out another dynamite, he immediately light it up with the flame of his cigarette and with barely any moment to spare, another explosion went off. In this spur moment of confusion, Gokudera was able to jump back quite a distance.

The gap between him and his foe was widened and Gokudera got more of his dynamites out to launch another attack. Hopefully, it will turn the tide around.

Hibari Kyoya, as founder and president of the Disciplinary Club has a ton of battle experience from 'biting' various students who were dumb enough to disobey the rules or unfortunate enough to piss him off. This is to why he was able to quickly locate his opponent although he couldn't see him. Pushing through the mass of dust, Gokudera immediately entered his line of vision.

Despite the fact he had hurt himself to get an opportunity to land a fatal attack on Hibari, Gokudera missed it by a couple of second. If he were fighting someone else, his plan would have worked and he would be winning the fight, but his foe was none other than the head prefect of Namimori Middle. He was just too fast. Before Gokudera had managed to light the explosives, Hibari hit him straight in the gut with his tonfa.

After flying a few miles, Gokudera landed on the ground with a loud 'thud'. He had injured himself so much that he doesn't even have the strength to get back on his feet. Only one more blow would have finished him and Hibari would have done exactly so if it weren't for Tsuna blocking him from his prey. Both junior high student was confused by her action.

"Please, Hime get out of the way, you'll get hurt."

"Get out of the way, Tsunahime," Hibari simply states.

Looking face to face to her housemate, Tsuna gulped. Hibari rarely ever call her by her name and it was only during times when he was dead serious. On any other situation, Tsuna would never even think of resisting Hibari Kyoya, but not this time.

"No," rejected Tsuna.

"No?" echoed Hibari. One of his eyebrows was raised to question her.

"No. I will not move away and let you harm him any further. I'm sorry Kyoya-kun, but Gokudera, even if I don't remember right now, is a very important person to me. So, if I have to fight you to prevent getting him anymore injuries, then so be it."

"Hime."

"Hmph." Hibari lowered down his tonfas and relaxed a bit. "Do whatever you want," announced Hibari before he went his way to leave.

Seeing Hibari's back for every step he took further away from Tsuna pained her. This is the first time Tsuna opposed Hibari and she doesn't like it. Heavy-heartedly, she also turned her back on Hibari to take care of her new classmate.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"Reborn, do you think he'll be okay?" Tsuna asked the infant besides her. Both of them were sitting on the chairs provided next to the hospital bed which Gokudera occupied. At first, they had brought the injured boy to the school's infirmary. But after telling the doctor what had happened, he suggested going to the hospital instead for a thorough check up and excused the two students from the school that day. That was the reason why the three were now inside the Namimori hospital.

All of Gokudera's wounds had been treated. There were a few broken bones, but it'll only take a matter of time until Gokudera is as good as new. However, Tsuna can't help worry because up until now, Gokudera still hasn't regained consciousness. Surely the doctors had assured her he would be fine, but still, Tsuna needed to see Gokudera awake to completely believe them.

"Stop worrying no-good Tsuna. He'll be fine. Just give him some time to rest," said her home tutor, unconcerned for Gokudera's welfare.

Dejected, Tsuna could only take up Reborn's words and wait. "Okay."

In point of fact, both student and teacher did not have to wait long time for Gokudera to return from slumber land.

"Urgh…" he slowly said in a quiet mumble, but both of the other occupants in the room unmistakably heard it .

"Gokudera-san are you awake?" Tsuna said, part anxious and another part excited with a tinge of relieve.

"If you keep talking, stupid Tsuna, then of course he'll wake up," stated Reborn, being as nonchalant as ever.

"Sorry," apologized Tsuna, this time keeping her volume low.

"umm… tenth? Are you there?" Gokudera said, still a bit hazy.

"Gokudera-san are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Can I help you somehow?" Frantic, Tsuna tried to help, however, being the clumsy girl she is, she doesn't know what to do.

"To be cared by the tenth like this, I really am a very fortunate person," said Gokudera while crying tears of joy.

_Tears of joy… Doesn't this scene look, um what's the word, surreal? But if Gokudera's like this then he must be fine. Wait, why did I just think like that? Is Gokudera normally like this? Ah who cares? As long as he's fine then everything is okay. _

Tsuna herself didn't notice but as she had that little dilemma with herself, Reborn had observed her every move. With a knowing look he thought that bringing Gokudera here was a good idea after all.

Looking over Gokudera's overjoyed face, reality dawned upon her. "More importantly, can I ask you something Gokudera-san?"

Gokudera immediately stopped crying and bewilderedly stared at Tsuna. "Of course tenth! Anything at all!"

The same goes for Reborn, he also focused his attention on his student.

"Uh well, I was wondering… You've been calling me Hime and after you woke up you started calling me tenth. So why are you calling me with both names again? It seems… strange. Can't you call me Tsuna instead?"

"Ahh! I didn't realize it. Must be a force of habit. I guess you don't remember but I used to call you tenth all the time. It's just that when I reached Japan, I was specifically told by Reborn-san to call you Hime, but I had completely forgotten about it. I'm such a failure."

"Eh, Reborn?" This time, Tsuna looks at Reborn questioningly, waiting to be answered.

"Yes, I did tell you to do that huh?"

"You don't remember?" stated Tsuna, shocked that her tutor could even forget such a thing.

"Of course I remembered no-good Tsuna. How dare you think so lightly of me." Reborn punched Tsuna's head.

As Tsuna rubbed her aching head, Reborn continued. "I told him to do that so that the fact you're still alive would be kept hidden."

"Eh why?"

Gokudera who also heard Reborn started to pay more attention. He himself had forgotten to ask why too after being too excited of getting the word that his precious leader is still alive.

"Think of it like this. If for example a weak family suddenly became strong who do you think their enemy will target?

"All of them?" answered Tsuna idiotically.

"Wrong. You're still as pathetic as always no-good Tsuna."

"Hey-"

"Well, moving on. What do you Gokudera?

"Me?" Asked Gokudera pointing to himself. "I think their boss will probably be the one targeted the most."

"Correct. You should learn more from you subordinate, Tsuna. Vongola had just lose all of their next candidates for boss. If word got around that you are alive what do you think will happen?"

Quivering, Tsuna actually processed all the information together. Leaving only one answer behind. "I-I'll…" she gulped, "b-be t-targeted?"

"For once you're actually using your brain, Tsuna. Good for you. Anyhow that brings us back to the main topic. Since Gokudera here is too stubborn to call you by your first name, I told him to call you Hime instead. This way we can keep our status low enough, without having people suspecting it. It's good that no one is in the room just now. But from now on, I hope you'll be more aware of your surroundings okay, Gokudera."

"Yes sir! Of-course Reborn-san"

Tsuna could only stare into space, blankly, as she thought more of he situation. If this keeps on going, she'll surely be unable to go to her normal life. Does she really want to tread this path? Does she even have a choice?

One way or another she feels that the more she hangs with Reborn and Gokudera, the more dangerous things will become. Especially if she's going to be a target to a bunch of Mafioso men. What happened earlier proves this. She would never have interrupted a fight between Kyoya and a man she barely knew, even if that guy is supposedly her childhood best friend.

_Wait a minute, fight?_

"Argh!" Tsuna suddenly jumped out of the chair and shouted, surprising the two men in the room with her, though one didn't show it on his face.

_That's right I just went against Kyoya-kun's decision. How am I supposed to face him later?_

* * *

><p>It's Jun and I finally updated chapter 4! Yay! Exams are over and all that waits are the holidays!<p>

I kind of have some doubts for the next chapter update, so... I really don't know if I can manage a double update this month, but of course, I'm not saying that there won't be another update in this month. I'm just saying that the next update will completely depend on my writing mood. So keep those reviews coming, 'cause if I get a lot of reviews I am sure to get more excited in writing stories.

And here's some thanks for the reviewers:

**Belletiger BT**

**mi-chan94**

**Akahama Nera**

**mangopudding**

**Ayz283**

**ezcap1st**

**HibariLover11**

**kisa **(anonymus)

Thank you all for reviewing and I hope you guys will continue to support my story! XD


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Tuesday morning wasn't exactly one of Tsuna's best mornings. In fact it could have been one of the worst mornings she had ever had. She felt thoroughly and utterly depressed. Only one thing caused her misery, to be precise one person, and he goes by the name of Hibari Kyoya.

If neither Reborn nor Gokudera had come, she wouldn't even think of such a thing as having an argument with Kyoya. First of all what kind of freeloader is she if she always fights with the owner of the house's son. Secondly Kyoya is just too intimidating to contradict. If she had had the guts to argue with him, she would have argued since the very first day she saw him fighting. Beating someone up just for the tiniest mistake is just wrong, but she could never stand up against that blood-lust glare of Hibari Kyoya.

Speaking of which, she hadn't see Kyoya since he left them after the fight yesterday. After Gokudera got admitted to the hospital, Tsuna found out he came to Japan on his own. And since there wouldn't be anyone to accompany him, Tsuna who felt rather guilty decided to spend the night there. So other than the few occasions where she returned to get some things at the house, she didn't return home for the night. Initially, she considered leaving a note that she'll be at the hospital. However, she'd doubt he'd even notice she's gone.

Sighing once more, Tsuna wondered how she'd ever get through the day like this. If only there was some easier way for her to apologize and make emends.

Walking straight ahead, Tsuna noticed there were some students from her class in front of her. Generally, she doesn't get along well with any of her classmates so she was about to walk a bit slower to create more of distance between her and them when she accidentally overheard their conversation.

"Hey, do you know that the Disciplinary Committee is doing a uniform check today?"

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah I'm sure. My friend texted me just this morning. She said that even Hibari Kyoya is there on the front gates checking on the inspection himself."

"Oh god, Hibari-san is so frightening. If he weren't so intimidating I would consider him as a boyfriend. Such a waste for a handsome face."

_An inspection from the Disciplinary Committee? Why must it be today? I'm still not ready to face Kyoya-kun!_

Tsuna stopped listening then and started to think of an excuse for not having to go to school that day. She really truly just wants to stay away from Kyoya today.

All because Tsuna was too immersed on how to avoid Kyoya she didn't realize that she walked head first to a telephone pole.

"O-ouch!" She rubbed her aching forehead. Apparently her head isn't very lucky nowadays. Every single day it gets hurt at least once. Though on most cases it was because of a certain baby's fault.

Now the question is, did anyone saw her make a fool out of herself? Tsuna looked right and then left. Relieved when she found no one.

"What are you looking for Tsuna?" a voice sprang behind her back as light and care-free as they get.

_No! He couldn't have!_

Turning around he saw Yamamoto Takeshi with his trademark happy-go lucky face staring right back at her. Among all her other classmates, Yamamoto Takeshi is the one guy who is easier to talk to. He is the star baseball player and also son of a Japanese restaurant, the most famous one around the block. The fact that he lives in the restaurant is the reason why Tsuna is closer to him than the others. Hibari Kyosuke has always loved the traditions of Japanese cultures. The same goes for his son. Every now and then during the once in a blue moon chance the three got together, they always eat at that very reason. Sometimes, when it was just her and Kyosuke, he'd get drunk with a conversation with Yamamoto's father that Tsuna could only spend some quality time with Yamamoto to pass the time. They didn't really have of anything else to do either way.

"Yamamoto-san, did you see?" asked Tsuna, rather frightened to whether or not she'd want to hear his answer.

"What do you mean Tsuna?" he asked back.

"You know… Did you see me… and the telephone pole…"

"Ah. You mean how you crashed head first to the telephone pole, I saw it hahaha."

Tsuna immediately cower in embarrassment. How could she have done that? In front of the star player of the baseball team no less?

Yamamoto who noticed her strange behavior decides to try and help ease her embarrassment. "It's really not that embarrassing, Tsuna. A lot of people do it to, you know. Like walk into a wall, a person or even a table. Walking straight into a telephone pole that's on the side of the road on such a clear sunny morning is not such a big deal."

_A table?_

Somehow Tsuna doesn't know if she should be relieved or more embarrassed at Yamamoto's sentence.

"More important Tsuna, you seem distracted. Did something happen?" Yamamoto calmly asked this time a bit more serious

"Um well, actually…"

Talking far and wide, Tsuna explained to Yamamoto what happened the day before. She skipped the parts about the mafia though. Yamamoto isn't a part of the selected few who knew of her circumstances.

"Ahaha, I see. I guess it's normal for Hibari to do that huh?"

"Yeah and now I really don't know how to make it up to him. I'm really not prepared to see him right now, but with the inspection taking place, I don't know what to do."

"Then why don't you make him a bento?"

"A bento?"

"Yeah, you know, that packed lunch in a box? Whenever there's a fight in our house, we always settle it off with good food."

"That's a great idea! But the thing is, I don't know how to make one and besides school is about to start in about… five minutes."

"Let's just go in for the afternoon classes. It's too late to go now even if we run and you did say you don't want to see Hibari right now. We can go back to my place and I can give you some lessons to make one. I'm sure pops isn't going to mind lending you the kitchen."

"But, but what about your baseball club?"

"No biggie. I can always go back after school If we don't make it for the afternoon classes."

"uh, umm, well…, if you insist."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"I'm back, pops!" exclaimed Yamamoto as he and Tsuna entered his house. Although it is a house, the front of the first floor was remodeled and specially designed to be a Japanese restaurant. There were lots of empty tables and chairs on one side and at the other side had a bar counter. Behind that counter is Yamamoto Tsuyoshi himself, preparing the ingredients to open the restaurant later on.

"Takeshi! What do you think you're doing coming back so early? You're not getting it off easily if it turns out you're skipping school." In his Japanese work clothes and apron, he had a stern face that was ready to give his son a lecture or two for any act of delinquent. Usually, though, he had a gentle and kind expression with a similar carefree attitude to his son.

"Haha I hope you don't get too angry because that's exactly what I'm doing." Answered his son without any trace of worry.

"Takeshi, you-" Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was about to scold his son's behavior when Tsuna, who was previously hidden from view behind Takeshi, interrupted.

"Yamamoto-san, please don't get angry at him. It's my fault that Yamamoto is skipping school. I'm so sorry." Tsuna bowed down.

"Ah, Tsuna-chan, I didn't notice you were here." Tsuyoshi sure was surprised to see Tsuna that he blinked twice in confusion. Hibari Kyosuke is one of his regular customers and on occasional visits, he had brought Tsuna and his own son with him. It was peculiar for Kyosuke to bring a girl with him, therefore he could easily recognize her face. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Uh, well…" Tsuna side glanced at Takeshi silently asking for backup. She didn't want to intrude, but she did come here to cook, or at least try to cook. Somehow it just didn't seem… polite to tell his father that she and his son were skipping school just for him to teach her how to make a bento.

"Pops, you don't mind if we borrow the kitchen, right? I'm going to teach Tsuna how to make a bento. She wanted to make one for Hibari Kyoya to apologize."

"Well why didn't you say so? Of course you can borrow the kitchen, especially if it's for Kyoya. Takeshi, why don't you lead the way?"

"Thanks, pops. Let's go Tsuna."

Before Tsuna rushed off to keep up with Takeshi, she did a small curtsy while muttering thanks to the owner of the restaurant.

As Takeshi guided Tsuna to the kitchen, Tsuna became more and more neurotic to the situation. She's about to trespass on someone's kitchen when she's barely even used the one at home. What if something goes wrong? Like the stove exploded or an oven short-circuited or a fire spread out. There's no way she could pay them back on her own. Kyosuke would have to pay them in her behalf if that happens and adding more burdens for him is just the last thing she'd ever want to do. Well, maybe second to being a mafia boss.

"Yamamoto-san, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course! Hibari will definitely forgive you if he knows how determined you are to apologizing and just call me Yamamoto, without any honorifics. It's hard to differentiate whether you're talking to me or my dad if you call me Yamamoto-san."

Somehow, Tsuna doubted that it would be that easy for Kyoya to forgive her, however, she said nothing of it. She didn't want to offend him. "O-okay, Yamamoto. But you must know that I've never ever cooked before and I had no experience in handling any kind of food. I usually just mess everything up."

"Haha try to be more optimistic, Tsuna. If you fail then that's the teacher's responsibility, okay? Besides we're going to make something real easy. I'm sure you can do it."

Right at the end at the sentence, they finally reached the kitchen. It was clean and simple, yet practical to be used for cooking just about anything. Spices were lined up neatly at the cupboards with the dishes stored on the other side of the room. All of the silverware were washed and polished, while the pots and pans were stacked up in an orderly fashion.

Before Tsuna had even finished ogling at the room, Takeshi had already started to prepare to make the dish. He stood by the kitchen counter and said, "Tsuna, are you familiars with bentos?"

"Bento?" Tsuna enquired. "You mean those packed lunch thingy they sold at the train station."

"Yup, that is what we're going to make."

"What!" exclaimed Tsuna more as a shriek of shock rather than a question. "How can I possibly make something like they look so complex with all those side dishes."

"haha, relax Tsuna, it's not that hard. Those bento they sell at the train at the train station is called an Ekiben bento. But the one you're thinking of, the one with lots of side dishes is another kind called a Makunouchi bento. Those are the ones usually sold at convenience stores. Technically they're not that different."

The whole time Takeshi explained to her, Tsuna just stared at him. All of the impression she got from from Takeshi was that of a jock. Who knew he'd actually be knowledgeable about this stuff.

"What we're going to make today is a more traditional bento, one that is said to have been originate back to the sixteenth-century. Instead of the typical rice with side dish bento, we're going to make one filled with rice-balls."

"Rice… balls?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's get started and I'll show you what I mean. "Takeshi once again flashed that trademark care-free smile of his as he ushered Tsuna to come close.

Even if she was unsure of how this was going, it was too late to back down now, so she just accepted his kindness. "umm well, okay I guess."

Both put on their, or in Tsuna's case borrowed, apron on as well as washed their hands and they were set to start cooking.

"First of all, you have to measure the quantity of rice you're going to cook. Since we're going to make about 8 rice-balls, about 4 cups should be enough." Takeshi showed Tsuna how to use a measuring cup and handed it to her to do it on her own.

"Wait, you're not going to help me?"

"Nope. What's the point of me teaching you if I do all the work? I'm only going to supervise."

Although regrettable, Tsuna didn't argue back. It was already good enough for Takeshi to help her with the cooking. She didn't need to complain.

"When you've got the correct amount, put it on a strainer to rinse them to get rid of any starch or impurities and put it inside the cooking pot."

"A cooking pot? What's that?"

"It's the inside part of a rice cooker. I was going to teach you to cook it with a pan but a rice cooker is more of a foolproof option. That way you won't have to worry about burning the rice

Somehow, Tsuna felt insulted by his words, however, she decided to just brush it off.

"Okay, now what?"

"Now, you add the water. For every cup of rice you put in, you'll need one and a half cup to cook it. Therefore we need a total of 6 cups of water. Measure it up and add them to the cooking pot."

Step by step Tsuna carefully carried out as planned and after Takeshi properly turned on the machine, they were set off to the next part of the process.

"Now that the rice is cooking, we'll take care of the fillings."

"We're going to fill them?"

"Of course. Though some prefers to have none, others differ. A riceball can have almost anything inside it. The most commonly used ingredients, though, are umeboshi or pickled plum, grilled salmon and katsuobushi, also known as dried bonito flakes."

"How can we get all that?"

"Aren't you forgetting something? We have all of the ingredients stocked and ready to be used. All that's left to do is to prepare them. We have to mix the dried bonito flakes with soy sauce, cook the salmon and break them to pieces as well as chop the pickled plums."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Tsunahime or Sawada Tsunahime, as Reborn had said to be precise, now faces her second problem of the day preceding the first, which was her inability to cook. In the halls of Namimori Middle, Tsuna stands nervously before the door to the Disciplinary Committee room.

A while ago, she had just finished making the _onigiri_ under Yamamoto's supervision. Yet no matter how much Yamamoto tried to help her shape them, they just never turned out quite right. They were messy and are on the verge of breaking. She can't really give some half-assed rice balls to Kyoya can she? At the same time, she doesn't know what to do with them if she doesn't give it. To think that she actually skipped a whole day of school to make them only to throw them away. Well, there's always the possibility that she could eat them herself…

_Oh, I know! I'll just peek in through the glass window to see if Kyoya-kun's here or not. If he's there I'll give it to him. If not, then I'll just eat it myself._

Pressing her self to the doorframe, Tsuna tried to look inside the room for any traces of the person she searched for. With the limited line of vision she has she could only see a part of the room, but that didn't stop her to peer over where his desk was placed.

Seeing the empty chair, Tsuna didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. In a way, she could avoid the embarrassment she would feel for presenting such disastrous cooking skills of her, however, it also meant that the hard effort she put into making the bento would be completely wasted.

"What are you doing here, herbivore?" A voice sprung from behind her. Tsuna was too focused on looking inside the room that she didn't even realize the exact person she was looking for was right behind her. Of course she knew the person directly from his voice and style of speech that made her even more frantic. She literally jumped at his question.

"Hiii!" Reflexively Tsuna hid the carefully packed bento behind her as she faced him. One way or another, Tsuna lost all her determination of giving the lunch box after looking at Hibari Kyoya in the flesh.

"Well? I expect an answer from you, herbivore," demanded Kyoya.

"Um, you see… I-I was… uh…" answered the girl all fidgety and nervous thinking of an excuse that was at least a bit believable. "I… was… searching! Yeah, searching for you Kyoya-kun!"

Hibari didn't comment on her strange excuse, but he did raise an eyebrow that made Tsuna continue on babbling.

"You see, uh… I was… going to ask you… what you wanted to have for dinner. I was thinking we should order some take-outs at a Chinese restaurant. Or if you're not up for Chinese, we can always have Japanese food at the Yamamoto's."

Though Tsuna had just finished talking, Hibari had lost interest mid-way and had instead focus his attention on his herbivore's hand that were tucked behing. With just a glance he could easily see she's hiding something from him. And never have Hibari liked it if his herbivore kept him in the dark to matters regarding him.

"Herbivore, what is it that you have in your hands?"

For the second time that day, Hibari had once more caught Tsuna by surprises with a question.

"Nothing!" exclaimed Tsuna a bit too quickly for avoiding suspicion. A blush spreading throughout her cheeks weren't exactly helping her out of this mess either.

"Hmm…" murmured Hibari.

All of a sudden Tsuna had this urge to run away before Hibari tries to do anything and that was precisely what she did next.

"Oh, look at the time! I've got to go."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"Argh!"

Frustration was eating her to the core as Tsuna buried her face in her palm. In attempts of fleeing Tsuna had considered going back to her classroom, however, class had already started by then and Tsuna had idiotically left her bag at the Yamamoto's. That's why she didn't bother going back to class. Instead, she decided to go to the rooftop.

Leaning against the wired fence, Tsuna peeked through the gaps of her fingers to see the lunch box besides her, untouched and unharmed. She cringed at the sight. The little boxed meal is a very good remainder of how much of a coward she had acted just now.

All of the effort she had put in to making it is wasted. Though on the bright side, she didn't have to embarrass herself any more than she already has. Out of the blue, Tsuna suddenly feel the fatigue she has built since that morning. She wasn't really able to sleep very soundly last night with all the worry of facing Kyoya today.

Yawning, Tsuna decided that there's no harm in getting some shut-eye. She'll only be dozing for a little while after all.

* * *

><p><em>I didn't know where I was or what I was doing, but before I came to realize what was happening around me, I found myself looking at a little girl.<em>

_The kid was no older than five-year-old and could be easily mistaken for a boy if it weren't for her skirt. She, unlike most girls, had spiky yet soft brown hair that seemed to defy gravity. Her eyes were big, brown and round, complementing her cute overall appearance. Looking at her made me feel nostalgic, like I knew the girl. _

_I've been watching her for so long, I can't keep track of the time I've spent observing her. Although because of it, I know a few facts to my situation. The first would be that I wasn't in Namimori. However, I am in Japan. From time to time I could hear people speak in the only language I could interpret. Secondly, no matter where I go, I would always run back into the girl, which was weird because I was so sure I was going straight. Last but not least was that in this world, I'm only an observer. Meaning that I didn't exist. I can't touch anything or anyone nor can the people around me hear my voice._

_There are also a few things I can tell about the girl. She's an only child and lives with both her parents. Her personality seemed to be that of a very shy girl since she refuses to talk to anyone she isn't close to and she was so clumsy that she would trip over nothing and cry by herself. I have a feeling that she isn't that smart either. Now that I think of it, she does resemble someone I know very well, but the question is, who? _

_Her name was spoken a few times before, however, each time it was said, I can't hear it. Every time someone called out her name, it turned to a murmur in my ears. A sound too low and too muffled for me to make out._

_Brushing off that question for now. I went back to surveying her to find any possible clues to why exactly am I here. This time, the scenery changed to what was apparently a preschool or perhaps a day care center._

_Children were running here and there all over the place. For a moment I seemed to have lost the girl in the flock of kids. I soon found her again, though. In a corner away from the rest of the children was the girl holding a crayon in one hand and holding down a paper in the other. She was drawing some sort of picture that I can't decipher. Yet whatever it is, she seemed to be content with it._

_Before long a three other children approached her. They looked like they were older than her and each one had with them an air of superiority and mischief._

"_Look guys, - is drawing! I didn't even think someone like her can do such a thing." Pointed out the child in the middle._

"_What? No way? – is too no good to be able to do something like that," agreed the boy to his left, while the girl to the right just nodded in consensus._

_The brunette didn't pay attention to any of the three kids, she just ignored them and continues to draw in hopes of making them leave her alone._

_They didn't accept this treatment, of course. How dare a girl treat them this way? They were meant to hold the attention, not the ones to be simply disregarded like an old toy._

_This time the boy in the middle took the paper out of the brunette's grasp and showed it to her friends._

"_Hey give that back!" complained the little girl._

"_Ugh the drawing is so ugly! I knew someone like her couldn't draw." Commented the boy to the left_

"_Yeah! It's just some messy lines put together." Agreed the older girl._

"_No! They're not just lines! That's a drawing of my friends."_

_If only I could, I would have defended her. Alas, I cannot. All I can do is watch as the scenes unfold in front of me._

"_Friends?" mocked the middle boy, "There's no way someone as useless as you can have friends."_

"_They must be some things she imagined herself."_

"_They are real! You just have never met them."_

"_Oh really?" this time it was the girl who replied. "Then they must be a bunch of losers to be friends with you."_

_That last sentence did it for her. She can handle being insulted, but she can't let her friends be treated in such a way. As warm droplets of tears run down her cheeks, she ran off as far away as she could. And from my point of view, I could see the three bullies laughing. _

_I chased down the girl past the other children and the caretakers out through the door into the street. The adults that worked in there had tried to chase and call out to her to stop, but she was too fast. Only I was fast enough to keep up with her._

_The girl ran and ran until she reached a small park with a playground and walked over to the sandbox. I saw as she curled up into a ball in the sandbox and hide her face with her arms as she cried. I could hear the muffled sound of her misery that I hated my inability to comfort her. I don't know why I care so much for a girl I know so little of._

_For over an hour I continued to watch her cry before a man appeared. He was much older than I am and taller too. Dressed in a black suit he approached the girl. I tried to see his face, but for some reason, I can't. It was all blurry and partially covered by his hat, a fedora with a bright orange stripe._

"_-, do you plan on crying for the rest of the day?" he asked her._

_The girl didn't reply, but her cries quieted little by little until it was only a soft sob every now and then. She still didn't move from her original position_

_Sighing the man crouched down to be on eye level with the girl. "If you keep this up you'll be a crybaby for the rest of your life. Always running away from your problems. Do you want to be like that?"_

_Shaking her head, the girl looked up a bit so that she could face him. Her nose and eyes were red from crying and her voice sounded very soft. "No, I wanna be like daddy and mommy."_

"_Then why do you keep crying over every little thing?"_

"_That's because they insulted my friends!" she argued louder this time and pouted._

"_You shouldn't cry when they do that, -. When someone makes you mad, you shouldn't run away. That just makes them think you're weak. You have to be strong and stand up for yourself and your friends."_

"_But, I'm not brave like you. I can't do that."_

"_That's why, you have to change. To be come stronger, braver and mightier so that you can protect everyone you love."_

"_I-I can't do that."_

"_You can. I know you can. Besides that is why your grandpa made me come here. To make sure you'll become a powerful leader you are. I will always be there to guide you to the right path. Just promise you'll put in an effort, okay? Because for every effort you'll put into something, you'll always receive a reward."_

_The little girl used her hands to brush any traces of tears in her eyes and smiled happily at the man._

"_Okay, I promise!"_

"_Now that's a good girl. You should never forget that smile, Tsuna."_

* * *

><p>Greeted by the sun right about to set its final goodbyes for the day, Tsuna gently opened his eyes to see the sun n the middle of handing over its job to the moon.<p>

_How long was I asleep?_ Thought she, while she stretched out her sore body. Judging by the sky, it seemed to either be four or five o'clock, way passed dismissal time.

Right then and there her stomach growled, begging to be fed. That day Tsuna hadn't had anything for lunch so it was no wonder she felt so hungry. It was afterwards that took notice of the box of onigiris she had failed to give. Well, the good news now was that they wouldn't go to waste anymore.

_So, was that a dream, I wonder?_ To Tsuna that dream was still a complete mystery waiting to be solved. She didn't recognize anyone in it. Yet, most of their faces look strangely familiar, especially the girl who bare the same name as her.

Even if she could only hear that named being said once, she was confident that she heard it right. The young brunette girl was called Tsuna.

Staring at the ball of rice in the palm of her hand, she wandered just why had she dreamed of such a girl. Could it be that the dream was apart of her memories?

Suddenly her train of thoughts was broke off by some rustling of the nearby foliage. Someone was approaching. Tsuna tensed at the thought that it might be anyone dangerous. If she screamed, what were the chances anyone would find her in an isolated place? And since the time is already late afternoon, most of the student had already gone home. Standing up she tried to brace her herself to flee at any signs of danger.

A wave of relieve washed over Tsuna when Kyoya's face was the one that appeared.

"K-Kyoya-kun, you surprised me. What are you doing here?" Her hand was held against her chest in hopes of decreasing her the rapid thump of her heat beat as she asked this.

"I should be the one to ask you that, herbivore. You are supposed to be home already. What are you doing still loitering around the school grounds at this time of the day?" His expression was as cold and merciless as ever as he said this. However, his tone seemed a bit different than usual. What was that she could sense in his voice? Relief? Now that she observed him closely, Tsuna could see what a mess he is in. The usual Hibari Kyoya would never walk around in wrinkled clother or with leaves stuck on his hair and clothes.

_Had he been searching for me all this time?_

"Not only did you skip a while day of class, you also are wondering in the ground of Namimori Middle on after hours. I should punish you for this, herbivore." He said, preparing his trusted pair of tonfas.

_Or maybe not_, thought Tsuna, feeling a bit more disappointed than she ought to be._ He's probably just came from 'biting' some unlucky kid to death._

Before Tsuna can properly explain just what had exactly happened and perhaps excuse herself from any unnecessary beatings, Kyoya's attention wandered off the food she was carrying.

"Herbivore, what's that?"

"Huh?" At first, Tsuna was confused to what the prefect was referring to, but she was able to catch up. "This? They're rice balls. I uh, I made them myself."

Kyoya remembered seeing that box when he had met up with the herbivore earlier and also the strange behavior she had showed back then. It wasn't hard for him to put two and two together.

Immediately, an amusing thought crossed his mind. Smirking, he thought, _why not?_

Tucking his tonfas away, he closed the gap between himself and the herbivore, grasping her hand before she could realize just what is happening and ate the half-eaten rice ball directly from his hands

Tsuna a blushed a thousand shades of red as she felt his warm, wet tongue licked her hand free of any leftover rice.

"K-Kyoya-kun!"

Under the traumatized state Kyoya had put her in, Tsuna didn't realize in the slightest that Kyoya took the lunch box oh her other hand free from his grasp and let her go.

Still dazed and flustered from what just happened, Tsuna lost her balance straightaway and found herself falling flat on her butt.

"Oof!"

She heard as Kyoya chuckled at her clumsiness and with her still red face, tried t glare at him as he ate another rice ball.

"It's too salty, herbivore. Next time use less salt to make this."

_Next time? Does he mean… _Tsuna stared at Hibari in a half expectant and half confusion expression. Truly, the herbivore never fails to amuse him.

"As for your punishment herbivore, I order you to prepare me lunch everyday for the rest of the year, starting from next week. I expect you to improve your skills by then"

Tsuna's eyes spread as wide as saucers with disbelief as Kyoya left the box on the ground before her and left. She could barely believe what just happened. Did Kyoya really told her to cook for him again? And for everyday of the year? To bring something for a guy to eat every single day, doesn't that sound like something a girlfriend. Her blush got darker and Tsuna immediately brushed away the thought.

Though astonished at how things turned out, Tsuna couldn't stop the smile from forming on her lips. By the end of the day, she was glad that everything worked out perfectly.

* * *

><p>Okay guys, here's chapter 5 of Reminiscence of the Past~<p>

Good thing I made it in time for July's update. Even though school had just started, there wa so much work that needs to be done that I almost thought I wouldn't update this month. It's a bit late but I made it longer than my other chapters, so I hope you guys'll like it.

On the upside, I totally love writing the 1827 pairing here, however on the down side I'm so sorry I couldn't make Reborn and Hibari more in character... I tried my best but somehow I just couldn't get their personalities quite right. They just seem so out of character in this chapter *cries*. I'll try to improve in the next chapters.

Next chapter would be a complete focus on Yamamoto! So I was wondering how much of you guys would like to see an 8027 fluff? I still don't know whether I should put it in or not. So if you guys wanna see it then write down on your reviews what you'd like to see.

I've said all I need for now and for the previous reviewers:

**Belletiger BT**

**Kichou**

**mangopudding**

**Soul Vrazy**

**Stargazer **(Anonymus)

**Ayz283**

**Kurayami Akuma **(Anonymus)

**Midnight Shadow Girl**

**nwyd**

**InuLovex**

**Goth Princess **(Anonymus)

**BrokenBlackCat**

Thank you so much for the reviews! I can't believe I've got 33 reviews already! You guys really inspire to write!

Sorry for any mistakes, typos and errors. Tell me about them and I'll fix it ASAP.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The sun had already set in Namimori town, leaving the moon to light the streets in its place. Street lamps were helping the moon with its job. Their lights watched as two figures walk side by side. One was a baby and the other, a slightly shorter than average teenage girl.

An odd pair they were, especially to the darkness of the night. A girl and a child should not be wandering around town at this time of the day. Even if Namimori is usually peaceful and safe, there were still crooks and nooks of alleyways hiding the evil lurking within. However, they weren't an ordinary pair that would succumb to such danger. For the baby was the world's strongest hitman, and the girl, the next boss to the biggest mafia family that holds the largest power the underworld, even if she would always deny it.

No one would have guessed such an innocent looking pair would be so dangerous, yet they wouldn't have it any other way. Because, even if they have connections to the underworld, they would still like to avoid any danger from their own kind. Particularly when they are doing such a normal errand like going to a friend's house to pick up a bag that was left behind earlier.

"Typical of dame-Tsuna to do such a careless thing as forgetting to bring your own bag"

"But Reborn! I couldn't help it, I was focusing my thoughts on a much more important matter!" whined Tsuna to her home tutor's comment

"And just what was so important that you had to skip a whole day of school to attend to?" inquired the formally dressed infant.

The girl immediately turned as red as an apple at his question. Her mind was tracing back the memories to the day of the event. How could she tell him she had spent the day all worked up to be forgiven by a certain prefect? He'd most probably smack her in the head for doing such a worthless thing. Besides, just remembering it is embarrassing enough. She can't even imagine how flustered she would be if she were to tell it to someone else.

Before Reborn was able to question her any further they already reached their destination. So, the topic was dropped. Well for now anyways.

Stepping inside, Tsuna was immediately welcomed by the sight of the Japanese restaurant. Not all the seats were filled with customer, but it still had a decent amount of customers. The air smelled of soya sauce and fresh fish, typical for a dining place at dinnertime like this..

"Ah, Tsuna-chan," greeted Tsuyoshi. "I was expecting to see you. You must be here to get your bag, right?"

"Yes, sorry for intruding, Yamamoto-san. And thanks again for earlier"

"The pleasures' all mine. Here let me get it for you." Tsuyoshi left the restaurant out to the back, leaving Tsuna, Reborn and the rest of the customers to wait.

"What do you mean by earlier?" Reborn questioned straightaway.

"Well, it's kind of a long story..." said Tsuna, scratching the back of her head.

Reborn saw a glimpse of Tsuyoshi's return and quickly said, "You'd better tell me all of it when we get back home, dame-Tsuna."

In distress, Tsuna gulped, not liking the look on Reborn's face in the slightest bit. Right then, Tsuna had never been happier to see Yamamoto Tsuyoshi.

Carrying the girl's bag with him he handed it over, "Here you go, Tsuna-chan."

"Thanks so much!" she exclaimed and bowed in appreciation.

"Haha, it's fine really." a generous smile adorned his face. "By the way, who's this?"

"I'm dame-Tsuna's home t- umf." His words were cut short by Tsuna's hand, who said in a panicky manner, "He's my cousin, Reborn."

Luckily, Tsuyoshi didn't ask any further about him. Though Reborn did bite Tsuna's hand, making her shriek and retract her hand almost immediately.

"By the way, Tsuna-chan, have you seen Takeshi by any chance?" inquired the Japanese chef.

"Eh?" pondered Tsuna, as she focused more on him rather than her throbbing hand. "Hasn't Yamamoto come home yet?"

"No, not yet." Tsuyoshi shook his head.

Looking over the worry that painted Tsuna's features, the chef added, "Worry not, Tsuna-chan, he's probably lost track of time doing something. I'm sure he'd come back when he's hungry, that boy of mine."

Tsuna wouldn't be really convinced by such a reason and both her companion and the elderly man knew it. There was also that feeling in her gut that she shouldn't stop worrying either.

"Tell you what, Tsuna-chan, I'll ring you when he comes home, okay?" Tsuyoshi said with a pat on Tsuna's head as a sign of reassurance. It wasn't enough, but it'll have to do for now. The two bid adieu the older and with that they left for the quietness of the night.

In quite a sense, Tsuna and Reborn didn't immediately depart for home. No, Tsuna stood still in front of the Japanese restaurant with an expression that Reborn was much familiar with adorning her face.

His student has had that calm ever since he met her. A calm and a bit solemn emotion that always came with her seriousness at the peak of her hyper intuition. Any statement she made with that frame of mind was scarcely wrong, if not never. And whatever it is in her mind right then had to be important. During these times Reborn was always assured that this girl truly had the rights to her heirloom.

"Reborn do you mind if we go on a side trip first before we go home?" was her still inquiry.

"Oh, and where exactly do you plan to go?" he replied the question with his own. He had quite an amused expression himself seeing his student in that state.

"I just want to check on something."

"Why?"

At that single word, her stillness broke into a pondering sense of mind. "I don't know. I just have a feeling it's important though I can't find any reason to support it."

"Well if you suppose it's important then perhaps it is. Now lead the way, no-good Tsuna."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"So where exactly are we going?"

"Actually, I'm not quite sure."

"Then are you telling me we are wondering in circles in the dark, lost?" Reborn prepared his gun from the shape-shifting Leon and locked it in position, aiming on his student. "If so, you'd better be prepared to face the consequences."

"Hiiii! Don't point that thing at me, that's dangerous!" frantically exclaimed he scared Tsunahime. "We're not lost. I can find our way home in a jiffy. I'm just not quite familiar with this area. I've only been here once after all."

"Good, I was prepared to put a bullet in your head if you had said we are, in fact, lost." Leon shifted back into a chameleon and once more settled down comfortably on Reborn's hat.

_Why do I have to have a Spartan of a home tutor?_ Tsuna half cried in her thoughts.

When Tsuna had finally stopped, they've reached a local community baseball field equally worn out as the one in school.

"This is it, I've been here once with Yamamoto. He said that he likes to practice baseball here from time to time since Kyoya-kun doesn't let him play baseball at school when it's too late or during the holidays." explained the student to her teacher. "I thought that maybe Yamamoto could be here."

"Heh, so no-good Tsuna can be right at times too, huh?"

"Reborn" complained Tsuna towards his statement.

"Rather getting worked up on the facts, shouldn't you remember why you came here in the first place?" Reborn covered his face with his hat. "From the looks of it, seems that that kid is going to need your help."

"Eh? What do you mean? What kid?"

"See for yourself." Tsuna's gaze followed to where Reborn was pointing. There, on the field was a figure Tsuna knew quite well.

"That's Yamamoto! We should tell his father that he's here." Tsuna was about to go back when the infant stopped her.

"Look closer, idiot."

And that was exactly what she did next. Observing the situation, she could feel that something was not right. Standing on his feet upright, he was panting very hard, like he was holding back pain. His shoulders were stiff and he was grasping on his dominant arm very hard. Before she knew it, Yamamoto fell to unconsciousness and fell to the hard ground of dirt and grass.

In a panicky voice, Tsuna cried out his name whilst running towards the limp figure.

"Yamamoto!"

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Once again, Tsuna ended up in the Namimori hospital. Before, it was for Gokudera. This time, it was for Yamamoto. Nevertheless, the nervous, fidgety feeling she had back then is still present regardless of the person it is meant for.

Another similarity of the visit was that her infant of a home tutor was right besides her on both occasions. Tsunahime could have gone home earlier, however, she just couldn't relax without knowing her friend's condition.

"Bee-p, bee-p, bee-p. Sorry, the line you are calling is not answering. Please leave a message after the tone"

"Hey, Kyoya-kun. I don't think your home yet, but just in case, I want to tell you that Reborn and I are in the Namimori Hospital. We have some business to attend here and won't be back for a while. If you're hungry, please feel free to order take-outs because I haven't ordered any. See you later."

Exactly after she finished, Tsuna shut the phone and closed the line. She had just left a message for her house for Kyoya so that he wouldn't worry about their whereabouts. Not that Tsunahime thought he will. It was just for safety measures since she can never know what he is thinking about. The thought of Kyoya worrying about her, she admits, is rather funny to think about.

"Okay, Reborn. I'm done. Let's go back to the waiting room."

"Do you really expect Hibari Kyoya is going to get that message?"

Tsuna dwelled on the question before giving her answer, "No, I don't. I just thought that was the right thing to do"

"Hmm" murmured the young hitman.

After a few moment of silence, Tsuna decided to break the ice. "What do you suppose happened to Yamamoto?"

Just then they turned around a corner and was confronted by the father of the exact person she had asked about, leaving Reborn with no time to reply.

"Tsuna-chan! You're still here? It's late, you should have left already."

"No, it's fine really! Right, Reborn?"

"Well, you're the one who insisted on waiting."

"Reborn!"

The man before them chuckled at their childishness. "Haha, you've sure got great friends here huh, Takeshi?"

By then Tsuna had finally come to realize that Yamamoto was standing right behind his father. It was Takeshi all right, but he's nothing like the usual cheery, old-self. He looked so different. Instead of his happy grin his expression was glum, or to be exact, expressionless. Over to his left, a cast was seen with Yamamoto's left arm. And even though that was bad, Tsuna was fixed more on Takeshi's eyes. His eyes were so dull, as if his soul was gone and only his body remained.

"What happened?" she unconsciously breathed out.

"The doctor said," explained Tsuyoshi who had heard her whisper. "That his arm is broken due to too much stress on it as well as having practiced too much baseball. He said that it'd take a few weeks to recover."

Takeshi having seen Tsuna's worrisome face snapped back to his old, bright self for a while.

"Don't worry, Tsuna. It's not as bad as it looks. I'll be fine in a bit." Takeshi ruffled Tsuna's already messy hair with his right arm.

"But," She took hold of his arm in her own. "You can't play baseball without it, right?"

Somehow her words seemed to have sullen his mood even more.

"Yeah, maybe." he said with a smile so forced, it couldn't pass as anything else, but fake. "Why don't you guys go home? It's probably passed bedtime for the kiddo."

"I'm a hitman, I don't have a bedtime."

"Whatever you say, kid. Tsuna, I'll see you tomorrow 'kay? I'm gonna call it a night. Let's go, pops."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

That morning was like a once in a blue moon thing to Tsuna. Lying on her bed she found herself awake even before her alarm turned off. This was very unusual for Tsuna because she had always been a heavy sleeper. Now, she woke even earlier than Reborn. Well, that is a good thing. At least she won't be awoken by a smack in the head by Leon the hammer.

Everything that happens always has a reason for it. This act most probably has one too. There was a feeling in her gut that something was going to happen soon and she doesn't like it. For rather than a good sign, it was more like a warning, a bad omen.

Instead of lying around, dilly-dallying, she'd decide to immediately prepare for the day. If something bad were indeed going to happen, she'd definitely want to be prepped up for it.

Gokudera was still in the hospital, so the walk to school was peaceful. Once again, Kyoya-kun had already left for school when she went out, so she hadn't seen him all morning. She thought probably be seeing him around after school or if she was really she'd find him patrolling or taking a nap at the roof during the break. Little does she know that she'd be seeing him much sooner.

Seeing that her actions were peculiar that day, Tsuna had been expecting for Reborn to ask about it. However, he did not. Instead what he said was nothing Tsuna had been able to foresee.

"Yamamoto Takeshi is athletic and has a good stamina. You should make him into your subordinate, dame-Tsuna."

"Eh?" Tsuna was dumbfounded. "Why would I want to do that?"

"You're going to become the next leader of Vongola, that's why you are expected to have a family of your own of course." Reborn continued to explain, "At the moment, you may not have your memories, but that doesn't change your fate. In every chance you get, you should always try to get new family members."

"Reborn," she complained. "I don't know what the previous me would do, but I've said it and I'll say it again, I don't want to be a mafia boss! I'm just cooperating with you to get my memories back."

SMACK!

A large green fan smacked Tsuna in the head. Seems like she could never escape the pain from hitting her head in the morning. Reborn had often hit her like this. She ought to be used to it by now, but the pain never seemed to weaken.

"Hiii!"

"Don't say such stupid things. If you keep on saying things like that, might as well never get those memories of yours back. You were born as a mafioso, you'll live as a mafioso."

"Ugh" There was no use to debating with Reborn, she'd always lose either so she isn't about to start one now.

In less than a minute they have reached school and for some kind of reason that Tsuna can't point out, the atmosphere felt hectic.

"Hey Reborn, do you feel that the school seems kind of chaotic or is it just me?" She was planning to ask her home tutor the question, but before she knew it he was gone leaving no one to answer to her opinion.

"Huh, that's strange. Where'd he go?"

Checking her right, left, up and down, she found no traces of Reborn. So, instead of troubling for him, she just went straight to her class. Reborn can take care of himself just fine.

Right as she was about to open the class door, she roughly heard a "What? Yamamoto is going to commit suicide on the roof?" and a "Come on, let's go check it out." That's why before she could even reach for the handle, the door was already opened from inside and around all her classmates went out, heading straight for the roof.

_No!_ Thought Tsuna, _That can't possibly be true, right?_

Rushing, she went and put down her bag as fast as she could to proceed to following her classmates.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Over to the school rooftop, a large crowd was gathered. No teacher was in sight, but almost every student in Namimori Middle had came to either check on the school's baseball star, find out what the commotion is all about or just want to see something interesting happen. The Disciplinary Committee members were also nowhere to be found and so, there was no one to control the situation.

From where she stood, Tsuna could see through the opening and cracks of the crowd Yamamoto whose arm was still in the cast from last night. She could also hear as her classmates and Yamamoto's fan girls tried to stop him from such a dangerous act.

"That fence is really rusty and old too. It can fall apart at any time."

"Yamamoto-kun, don't do this!""

"Hey Yamamoto, this isn't funny!"

"You're taking this too far!"

Some of the crowd were agreeing to the other's statement and tried to persuade Yamamoto from falling to his death. But no one tried to act based on his or her words. Everyone kept a good distance away from the jock and that rickety fence.

"Yeah, sorry guys." he said loud enough for everyone to hear. His face was solemn and was dead on serious. "I... no. The baseball god had already left my side. Now I have nothing left. There's no longer any point for me to continue on living."

Panic stirred on the rest of the crowd. Even some of the girls were even crying their hearts out.

"No way!"

"He can't possibly be serious, can he?"

"Noo! Yamamoto-kun! Please change your mind!"

At his sentence, Tsuna immediately hid herself. She won't be able to take it if she sees a friend of her die. If she could, she'd stop it. Even so, she's just Tsuna, dame-Tsuna in fact. None of the other kids could stop him. What hope does she have in doing the same thing? Leaning towards misery, she slouched to her knees, only to be surprised by an infamous hitman.

"Dame-Tsuna, what do you think you're doing here. As a boss, you should be stopping your subordinate from committing suicide." he simply said.

"Hiieee! Reborn! Where'd you came from?" shrieked the brunette in shock. Everyone else was too focused on Yamamoto no one cared enough to check on who screamed. "No, more importantly Yamamoto is not my subordinate! He's my friend. And how many times do I have to tell you Reborn? I am NOT a boss."

"As a friend or boss, you still have to stop him don't you?"

"No one else could stop him. Who am I to do so? I know I'll fail even before I do it."

"You truly are pathetic, dame-Tsuna, giving up before you even try it. You're the one who's supposed to die." Reborn took Leon from perching on top of his hat and the chameleon changed into a gun. "Why don't you join Yamamoto in dying. And for the record, I'm not using a Dying Will Bullet. If you get hit by this shot you'll really die."

Being the chicken she is, Tsuna was immediately scared for her life, literally. "Hiii!" she screamed. She had been doing an awful lot of screaming lately.

Tsuna doesn't want to die. To die was just frightening to her she doesn't want to try it, even if she'd be free from her Spartan tutor then. So, with all her might, she ran away from her problem.

"Get out of my way!" Tsuna was in such haste that she actually tripped. From everywhere around her, she heard gasps of awe and student spooking of her name. That was when she realized she was now in the limelight. Right in front of Yamamoto and the fence that separated them as well as the crowd.

"Tsuna, if you're hear to stop me then I really appreciate it, but nothing can change my mind now." Yamamoto said with a smile of gratitude for her before returning to his solemn expression.

Tsuna would rather hide inside a hole rather than speak up in front of so much people. She's terrified, she's nervous and she'd definitely make a fool out of herself or make the situation worse. That's why she'd never voluntarily stand with all lights on her. Although that's what she would do, she's already in the center of everyone's attention. What's done is done and she should just have to make use of her situation than regretting it for a lifetime. Now she'd just have to figure out what to say to him.

Since she didn't respond, Yamamoto decided to speak up for her.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you, Tsuna. Tell my pops I'm sorry for doing this."

Yamamoto was about to jump when Tsuna's voice stopped him.

"No!" she exclaimed as loud as she can without turning it into a scream. "No, I will not do that. If you want to say sorry to him, say it yourself with your mouth and voice. If you tell me to do anything else I'd try my best to do it since you've always done so much for me. But if there's anything I'd refuse, I'd refuse this."

Everyone was surprised by her speech. Who knew the girl could have such authority in her voice. No one would have suspected it. They all just stayed quiet, curious to what will happen next. A few distances away was Reborn, smirking at his student's act.

"I... " Tsuna hesitated on continuing, but since she already started why not end it as well, she still had her determination on saving a friend's life. "I may not know what it's like to lose someone special to you, but I know enough that it will break a person's heart. I'd never want to be the one to do such a horrible thing. And you may think I'm a busybody to be prying into your life like this but there's more to your life than just for playing baseball. Even I could see it."

Taking in a deep breath, Tsuna continued, "You're always so kind and cheerful that you'd make a person's gloom disappear. Your presence is always calming and I think the class agrees on me with this." There were several nods in the crowd as she said this. "You're also a great cook. And most importantly you have a kind father, a family waiting for you back home. Compared to me, who's always struggling to do everything right, you have a great life. So, please don't throw it away. And your arm will be fine in no time, you said so yourself. After it heals, you can go back to playing baseball like you always do."

The crowd stayed quiet. They all held they breaths, waiting for Yamamoto's reply.

Yamamoto glanced at Tsuna for a bit more before saying, "Wow, Tsuna, I never knew you had it in you to make a speech like that, haha. Now that you've made me feel guilty, I no longer have the guts to jump."

Everyone immediately cheered and hooray, while Yamamoto's fan girls cried tears of joy.

"Hey Tsuna, can you lend me a hand here?"

"Oh, sure! Right away!"

Since he was no longer going to jump, he tried to climb the fence to get back to safety. Alas, Tsuna's clumsiness combined with the old rust broke the fence. She once again tripped causing both her and Yamamoto to fall.

Everyone immediately gasped and scream in astonishment. The cheerfulness disappeared and they were once more in a life or death scene.

Thankfully Tsuna managed to grab hold of the side of the roof with her hand and Yamamoto with the other. They were safe for now, but Tsuna can't hold one much longer. the extra weight easily made her hands slip faster and faster.

"It's okay, Tsuna. just let go of me and safe yourself." Yamamoto tried to persuade her.

"No, I can't do that. I'm not going to let you die!" Even if she said that, her hands were still slipping and in a moment they were going to fall to their demise.

Off to the side, Reborn was ready to shoot Tsuna with a Dying Will Bullet. he didn't plan for this to happen and he can't exactly let his student die, not again. However, he soon realized he didn't need to shot the bullet. For in the midst of the crowd he could see two shadows jumping to the rescue.

Once and for all Tsuna's grasp finally slip and she had expected for her to fall, but it didn't happen. Someone was holding up her hand. Two of them two be exact.

"Don't worry, Hime! I'm here to help."

"Herbivore, who gave you the permission to die on school grounds?"

With both guys' strength combined they were able to pull both Yamamoto and Tsunahime back to safety. Tsuna gave out a sigh of relieve once she was back on ground again. Her heart was still thumping from the near death experience. Tsuna was never more grateful to not be dangling on the side of a rooftop.

Looking around the rooftop she saw that the Disciplinary Committee members had all come, with Kusakabe Tetsuya giving instruction to the rest of the students to go back to class.

A hand pulled her up to her feet so roughly that she could hear Gokudera complaining to the side. When she was standing straight on both legs, she came face to face with Kyoya who inspected her very carefully. Tsuna can't help the blush rising to her face as he did this.

"I see no problems from the fall. Now go back to class, herbivores, before I change my mind to bite you all to death for disrupting the peace of Namimori."

The trio knew Hibari was serious, he always was, especially when it is concerning about Namimori. That was why they made haste to joining the rest of the students back to class. Leaving the Disciplinary Committee members to their work.

"Hime, are you sure you are fine? We should go to the nurses office to make sure."

"I'm fine, but I thought you were going to be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, Gokudera."

"I was, but I threatened the doctor to let me go earlier since I'm already better." replied Gokudera enthusiastically without any traces of guilt. Somehow Tsuna had a found a new reason to be scared of Gokudera then.

"Speaking of which let me introduce you guys. Gokudera, this is Yamamoto. And if you hadn't noticed yet, he's in the same class as us."

"Yo!" was Yamamoto's mere greeting.

"Hmph, just don't bring anymore troubles for Hime or I will deal with you personally." Gokudera sent a death glare to Yamamoto, which he either didn't notice or that he just decided to ignore it.

"Haha, no worries. I won't. She just saved my life after all. I'm indebted to her."

"Oh and by the way," Yamamoto leaned in closer to whisper in Tsuna's ear. " You look good with pink laces."

Tsuna immediately blushed when she knew what he meant and her hands tugged on her skirt in hopes of lowering it a bit more.

Gokudera watched the exchange and decided to confront him for it. "Hey, you! What did you just say to Hime?"

"Nothing" Yamamoto faked innocence.

Oh boy, with companies like this, Tsuna is in for tons more of hectic days waiting for her.

* * *

><p>No! I can't believe I didn't get to post this story in time! It's already the first day of September and I just uploaded the August update. I have to blame the fact that I didn't have an internet connection yesterday for my tardiness. I couldn't even connect to the site, much less updated. I still count this as my August update, so please look forward to my next update by the end of the month. Hopefully I'll make it in time before October.<p>

I don't know if this chapter is all that good or not, since I was in a rush to finish it, but I think this one is a rather decent chapter. I also have only proofread it once, so I'm very sorry if you found any mistakes with the spelling or grammar.

Now, without further ado, here are the chapter 5 reviewers:

**BrockenBlackCat**

**Someone **(Anonymous)

**Belletiger BT**

**heavens-condemned-kitsune**

**Soul Vrazy**

**Ayz283**

**Otaku97**

**V'sPoison**

As usual thank you so much for leaving me a review and make sure to let me know if I made any typos in writing your pen name.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

To Tsunahime, that day was a very mundane day. She's gone used to the chaos of having both Gokudera and Yamamoto around too much that it felt as if a part of her life was missing without them. It's not that long ago that she had no friends at all to talk to. Having such close friends now is already a plus. So, she might be getting conceited in wanting to spend more time with them just hang out.

Where were the two guys one might ask? The three was always together through thick or thin. Therefore it didn't make much sense to see Tsuna alone. Not even the baby hitman was with her. But the latter didn't really need a reason for not being with her to begin with. Reborn is always doing what he wants, whenever and wherever as well. It was impossible to track his movements. He'll probably pop out when Tsuna least expects him.

The tallest of the three is known throughout the school as the baseball star of Namimori. Baseball was both his passion and glory. Even for the jock that is already great in the sport, he still needed to practice. Since he his just healed, he has become rather rusty at it. That's why he had left Tsuna, just for the sake of his favorite hobby.

Gokudera's reason for not being around is a much different reason. First being that it wasn't a voluntary action. Gokudera had gotten detention. No, it wasn't because of his grades. He is a genius, the best in his whole year. Instead, it was because of his behavior. He had been caught smoking on school grounds by a teacher earlier that day. If it weren't for Tsuna the said educator would have been blown to pieces by then for messing with him. Tsuna was also the one who convinced him to go attend the detention as well.

For a second, Tsuna considered that she shouldn't have made Gokudera attend that detention after all. If she did, she wouldn't be so lonely waiting for the company of the two guys. After second thoughts she decided once and for all that she did the right thing. Kyoya-kun would have been pissed if he found out Gokudera hadn't attended and will possibly try to bite him to death. Tsuna really wanted to avoid that end.

Still, she really felt lonely now, wandering on the streets of Namimori. She wanted to wait for the two of them to finish so they chill out together somewhere, but she couldn't have waited at school. The rules didn't say anything about students having to immediately get out of school grounds after school was over. Nevertheless, she knew Kyoya-kun didn't like it when students prowl around the school with no purposes. As he'd like to put it, they're disrupting the peace at Namimori and he'll bite whoever does that to death. Tsuna thinks she's no exception.

Lately she's also becoming more selfish. Whenever she sees the girls laughing and gossiping around school, she can't help but wish she had a female friend. It wasn't like she didn't like having the two noisy pair around. Surely they were the greatest (and not to mention gorgeous, as the other girls like to say) companions. A girl still has things she wants to discuss with her others of her own kind.

Needless to say, Tsuna wanted to know what it would feel like to have a girl's day out. Not that she could say that to either of her friends. They'd happily cross-dress for her with one single command from her. Yet, seriously, the plain thought of them wearing skirts and longhaired wigs was both awful and disturbing.

Tsuna now walks around town, hoping that time would pass by more quickly. There was still like an hour until the duo finished their activities. There was, the option to go to a café and order some sweets or even perhaps her favorite parfait if it weren't for the fact that it was awkward for a girl to eat by herself and that she didn't have the leisure to spend her money on such luxurious things. At the time Tsuna almost missed her tutor's company. Almost.

A glimpse of quite a strange thing caught her interest. It was by the park did she notice such a peculiar thing. The park was usually filled with children toying around with the perks of the park's very own public playground. The sight of a net climber being conquered by a child was nothing new. But it wasn't a net climber that was being ascended nor was it a child.

Crawling on top of a branch almost above her was a girl. Luckily the tree had managed to support her weight until now, however, it doesn't seemed like it'll going to stay like that any longer. Her eyes as well as her scrunched up face deemed she was scared from either the height or the fall that was about to happen, Tsuna didn't know which. Both probably.

Without either of them realizing, the branch had reached its maximum weight capacity and after a warning crack, broke!

"Hiiii!"

"Haahhiii!"

A sharp, cracking sound was heard before gravity pulled the branch over to the center of the earth. Unfortunately Tsuna became the victim in this sudden turn of events. Seems like Tsuna will never have a day without any bruises or pain. She could only blame her bad luck for such misery. The weight of the object on top of her was crushing her; it took everything she had in her to not scream for help, not that she needed to. Thankfully, the culprit knew very well what had happened and had at the least the decency to apologize.

"Hahii! Haru is so sorry!"

"No, it's fine! Just please, GET OFF ME!"

"Yes, right away!" was the reply of the panic-stricken girl.

The strange girl immediately gave relieve to Tsuna's back by removing the heavy branch on top of her. Everything would be peachy perfect, if it weren't for her aching body and messed up uniform. Her arms and leg were bruised and dirty. Even her face was smudged with dirt from the ground. Right now, she could really use a shower, or at the least, a change of clothes.

"Haru is so, so, sooo sorry!" The girl apologized again. An apology would be useful, if it did anything to help her disordered state.

Tsuna wasn't quite too happy at the situation. Actually she's quite upset by it. However, Tsuna doesn't like the thought of getting mad at a stranger, much less a girl around her age. The schoolgirl was much like her in a way, though she had a much darker shade of brown hair as well as a different school uniform, which meant that she wasn't a student at Namimori Middle. That fact was actually a good thing because this girl here wouldn't avoid Tsuna like a plague because she wouldn't know a clue about her relation to the frightening prefect.

"Haru must express her gratefulness to the stranger that had helped her. Please come with me!" She said a lit bit more than just determined and dragged Tsuna by the hand to who-knows-where.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"There, all done!" The taller brunette huffed up a breath as she finished tending to Tsuna's wounds despite her protests of being just fine. That's how Tsuna found out that Haru, other than being as a naturally peculiar girl, is also very, very stubborn. Once the dark haired girl made up her mind on something, she'll stick to it the very end.

In appreciation, Tsuna told how grateful she was to her, followed by a small chirp coming from her lap. The cute little voice belonged to a small, fluffy yellow canary perched on Tsuna's lap. Apparently, the bird was the reason for the girl's rather bizarre performance. Sadly, its wing had been stuck on the branch earlier and the dark haired girl, who had notice the little bird's despair, decided on helping the poor creature. Consequently that noble decision turned quite into an unpleasant situation for Tsuna.

Prior to fixing up Tsuna's injury, the dark haired girl had already payed medical attention to its wing. The yellow canary now had a bandage on its wing that had a sprain, which would prevent it from flying any time soon.

"Your welcome," the girl replied. "Speaking of which, Haru hasn't introduced herself has she? My name is Miura Haru, pleased to make your acquaintance. Just call me Haru, if you'd please."

"The pleasure is all mine, Haru-chan. I'm Tsunahime. Please just call me Tsuna." Tsuna smiled. It would seem that the girl would be a good choice for a friend.

"Then Tsuna-chan it is!" she grinned happily in response to Tsuna's smile.

"Haru-chan, um, if you don't mind me asking, are you going to take care of the bird until it heals." Chirping happily, Tsuna caress the yellow ball of feather as gently as she could.

"Of course that is what Haru should do! Haru cannot let a defenseless lttle bird out on his own." Haru retorted, before her spirits sank "But my father would probably reject it He doesn't really like animals."

"Oh." Little canary tilted its head to the side, as if it was wondering why the girl holding it suddenly looked sad.

There was a moment of silence following Haru's sudden outburst that broke the ice. "Ah, I know! You should keep it, Tsuna-chan."

"Me?" exclaimed the bewildered brunette.

"Yes! If it's you, I'm sure you'd take good care of it. And you'd let me visit often too right?"

"Of course, I would, Haru-chan. I'm sure Hibari-san would let me nurse a bird back to health, but, but… I'm not sure how'd Kyoya-kun react to this."

"Hibari-san? Kyoya-kun as in Hibari Kyoya, that violent delinquent? How are they connected to this?" Now it's Haru's turn to tilt her head in perplexity.

"Oh, Hibari-san is my caretaker and Kyoya-kun… well, he's my… housemate? Though Hibari-san is out on a business trip right now, so it's just me and Kyoya-kun living in the house right now." _And Reborn if you can count him as a part of the family…_

"Hahi! So mature, living alone under the same roof as a boy." A light shade of pink dusted Haru's cheeks. Haru knew the prefect of Namimori school. He is, in fact, infamous even in Midori High, her school. For a girl to be that close to him to call each other on a first name basis, she could easily jump to conclusions, especially since she knew that Hibari Kyoya is an only child. "Haru is impressed. Haru is actually talking to Hibari Kyoya-san's girlfriend!"

That blush soon spread over to Tsuna's face as well once she understood what Haru meant. "No, no! There's nothing going on between me and Kyoya-kun! We're, um, um…" Tsuna struggled to find the right word, finally deciding to use her cover story. "I'm his cousin"

"Really? You don't look anything like each other."

Scared that Haru won't believe her lie, she tried to cover the truth deeper within. "That's because… my father.. is… Hibari-san's stepbrother! Yeah, that's it. And that's why we don't look similar, because we aren't related by blood."

"Oh" stated the disappointed Haru in response. She was actually pretty excited to found a gossip material, had it not been proven false. As a cover up, she decided to change the topic. "So, Tsuna-chan, would you be able take care of mister birdy then?"

Had it been on another occasion, Tsuna might have giggled at Haru's choice of words for calling the yellow canary, but it hadn't. She thought long and hard and came with the conclusion. She'd take good care of the bird. Screw Kyoya-kun, she ain't gonna leave a cute little bird alone on it's own. Tsuna was rather fond of it too.

"I'll do it."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Tsuna can't believe she forgot about waiting for Gokudera and Yamamoto. They were supposed to meet up at 4 o'clock, now it's already half-past 4. She was too carried away in chatting with Haru that she forgot to pay attention to the time.

"Haru doesn't understand why Tsuna-chan should be running, right now. If they're gentleman's than they won't mind waiting, right, Reborn-chan?" Haru had insisted on coming with her, saying that she'd like to see Tsuna's friends.

"Subordinates won't mind waiting for their beloved boss." Tsuna sighed.

Riding on Tsuna's shoulder was Reborn because a bird had decided to use Tsuna's head as a make shift nest. In truth, it was Reborn who had suddenly pop up out of nowhere in the Miura estate that reminded Tsuna of her earlier promise. Haru being quite the eccentric girl quickly adapted to Reborn's way of referring to Tsuna as a boss and her friends as subordinates. Heck she'd probably be fine if Reborn said that Tsuna is the long lost heir of the biggest and strongest mafia family in the world. Tsuna thinks, however, that Haru could take in the info so well was because the dark haired girl thought Reborn was playing pretend and followed suit.

Haru seemed to really like Reborn judging from the way they met. Tsuna had never someone asking to hug a baby stranger the first time they met each other until then. Haru's eyes also seemed to sparkle with delight when the baby agreed to be her friend. Strange people get along well together, Tsuna decided.

Reborn suddenly pointed his Leon gun on Tsuna's head. "You just thought that I was strange didn't you?"

Oh, how Tsuna feared that evil gleam in Reborn's eyes. "Hieee! Of course not."

It was a good thing that they reached Namimori exactly after that. Tsuna really doesn't want to die yet. The bird probably won't be happy to be perched on the dead girl's head either.

"Hime!" Gokudera exclaimed loudly, definitely pleased to see his beloved Tsunahime.

"Yo, Tsuna!" was Yamamoto's greeting, quieter and much more cheerful compared to Gokudera's.

"Yamamoto-kun, Gokudera-kun, I'm sorry I'm late." Tsuna immediately stooped to catch her breath once she was right in front of them.

Tsuna could only sigh as Reborn commented, "You shouldn't have kept your subordinates waiting, dame-Tsuna. You're a still far from being a Vongola Boss, I see. I should make you train harder."

"It's fine, kid, don't worry about it. We didn't mind it a bit, right, Gokudera?" as he put an arm over on Tsuna's shoulder as Reborn had hopped off earlier.

Gokudera was annoyed by the gesture and it clearly showed in his features. "Tch, don't act so friendly with Hime, baseball idiot."

"Haha" the 'baseball idiot' simply brushed off the insult.

Tsuna simply smiled, she loved it the most when her friends were right there with her, even with the spartan tutor around. Reborn maybe devilish in a sense, but his presence always made Tsuna feel safe. Her friends were her treasure, and they seem to be piling up as Tsuna turned to look at Haru a bit behind her.

"Hahi, Tsuna has really interesting friends."

"And who is this chick, following Hime around?" Gokudera approached her before Tsuna realized he had move at all. Both Gokudera and Haru were great people. Although it seems that they won't get along so well with each other.

Puffing up her chest Haru retorted back to him without being intimated by his glare nor his delinquent appearance. "So rude! As for a matter of fact my name is Miura Haru. Mi-u-ra Ha-ru!"

Deeming that the girl was of no threat to the great Tsunahime, he decided to ignore the annoying girl "Like I care."

"Now, now, Gokudera-kun, Haru-chan, please don't fight." The smile on Tsuna's face turned upside down in their childish acts.

"Haha, don't make troubles for Tsuna, guys."

The canary on top of Tsuna's head had decided to ignore the chaos around it and plunged into deep slumber in the soft brown locks of Tsunahime's head.

Reborn watched in amusement of Tsuna's growing famiglia. Her preparations to be boss were growing rather smoothly. She had already even recruited and tamed potential guardians into her family. Though that drifting hadn't been quite tamed by the sky yet and Reborn looked towards the school building.

Up above on the Namimori Middle school'd roof was Hibari Kyoya watching as herbivores were crowding right in front of his territory. He would have bitten them all to death if that little animal weren't there. He suppose he could let it slip for now, but if they won't stop crowding, he'd deal with them personally. Right he was content in watching over the little brown herbivore acting all idiotic and happy. Even the little bird perched on her head amused him.

* * *

><p>AN: To be honest this was a boring chapter to write. It wasn't like I hate Haru, it's just that the content itself wasn't very appealing, but even so I really need to introduce Haru to the story. Her appearance is really important for some of the upcoming chapters!

To the reviewers:

**Ayz283**

**Soul Vrazy**

**codenumber6**

**BrokenBlackCat**

**Midnight Shadow Girl**

**Msdgirl**

**Guest** (Anonymus)

**Zylia16**

**XxShadowfangxX**

**I'm a KHR lover** (Anonymus)

**Ayami Logic**

**Kichou**

Thank you so much for the reviews~


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Today was Reborn's birthday. Not that anyone around him knew it though. It didn't hold a great significance and he didn't want to go through the hassle of disclosing that fact either way. Holding a Vongolian Birthday Party would've been nice, but this year wasn't an odd year. After all, he was supposedly turning 24-years-old this year. It wasn't an odd birthday.

In his current form, no one would have suspected he was anywhere near that age. He looked like a one-year-old. It was the curse bestowed upon him and six other people. They were known as the cursed yet strongest infants, the Arcobaleno. Until now, they still haven't found a way to return back to their former, adult bodies.

Back to the current situation he shouldn't expect for anything special to happen. In any case, the closest person that would have remembered his birthday was Smokin' Bomb Hayato and he still doubted that fact. For the last three years he had barely met up with the lad. Reborn wouldn't be surprised if the teenager had forgotten.

His student would have remembered if she was still her former self. Without her memories intact, he couldn't hope to see her get all flustered congratulating him and preparing him a present like she used to. That was the one thing he used to look forward to.

Suddenly, the yellow pacifier he wore around his neck glowed. The pacifier was the mark of the curse. Every single infant with the curse had one and it only shined when another Arcobaleno infant was close by.

Perhaps someone was coming to pay him a visit.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"Colonello, what the hell did you just do?!" Enraged, Reborn lashed out on his fellow Arcobaleno member. Under the shadow casted by his hat were the menacing eyes of a killer.

Colonello was the holder of the blue pacifier. He used to be a part of COMSUBIN and even now he prefers to wear the green army color. It is shown by the headband he wore whose color contrasted greatly wit his blond hair.

"Hey, don't be upset kora! I only acted as a messenger for Verde kora!" Colonello backed up a few steps. Even if all the Arcobaleno members were strong, Reborn was known to have the greatest strength of them all. Even if he was trained to fight, he couldn't win against Reborn easily, especially since he still had the body of an infant, unlike his comrade. "Besides, it's not like it's a bad thing. You get to be your former self for a day, kora!"

Reborn sighed. It was true that being back to normal had its advantages, but Reborn hated the fact he had to become a guinea pig for Verde's experiments. He'd make sure to get his revenge on the green-haired troll.

If Colonello preferred to wear green, then he'd probably love to switch his pacifier for the color of Verde's. Verde was infamous for being the evil scientist. Even though Reborn could be frighteningly sadistic, Verde had a league of his own. A very disagreeable man who would put his research above everything. However, Reborn must admit his skills are the real deal.

"Why don't you find that student of yours and go have fun kora? It'll only last around up to ten hours, so you'd better make use of it. Just think of it as a birthday gift from me and Verde, kora!"

"Colonello, you…"

"Ah, look at the time. I've got to go back to Mafia Land, kora! Falco!" Colonello whistled and an eagle came flying to lift him away.

"I'll see you later then kora!" he called out before leaving Reborn on his own

"Hmph" Reborn would let it slide for now. Right then Reborn could really use a cup of espresso. He briefly recalled that a café in Namimori's shopping district sold a good one.

In a way he actually appreciated back to normal, even if it was just for a few hours. Though if possible he didn't want to meet up with his student.

It was just a matter of pride that he didn't want to meet up with Tsuna really. This was his real form, the form that had failed her. He still remembered his failure as clear as day…

"_Reborn, I can't fight all of them off."_

_Most of the other bodyguards had been killed or badly injured by then as men in black surrounded the two. It was a fight between the mafia so passer-bys didn't even try to help. They just turned away their eyes and scurried off to avoid being shot by a stray bullet._

"_Tch," Reborn clicked his tongue out of annoyance as he kicked the enemy in front of him before shooting another. "Fend them off as best as you can, I'm coming Tsuna!"_

_How did it end up like this? Reborn promised to protect his cute little student from harm's way. Yet he was fighting a losing battle with Tsunahime in stake. Why did he fail to predict that they would ambush them on the airport? He should've known that the enemy famiglia would attack on public territory in order to get their hands on the next Vongola boss. He should've brought more men._

"_Argh!"_

_Behind him another one of his man was shot to his demise. How many men had he lost? How many men were still alive?_

"_Reborn!" He was busy with his own fight, there were just too many opponents there for him to make his way over to Tsuna. He knew looking away from his foe would be a distraction that would cost him greatly. Even so he still did it. His student was needed him. She needed his help that for the moment, he couldn't give._

_Over five meters away from him, in the crowded mass of men was the brown hair of his student standing out. Her small frame was evident from the tall men surrounding her. She was a strong girl even at that age. It was proven through the many trainings he had set for her. She was as strong as an adult, but alas, she was still a child. Reborn knew she would reach her limit soon._

_Tsuna was already huffing tiredly. The flame on her forehead and arms were shining duller than usual following the fatigue evident in her eyes._

_Just for a moment their eyes met and for that single second, Reborn saw the hope and trust her student had for her tutor in her eyes. In spite of her believe that everything would be fine if Reborn was near her, Reborn saw the man creeping up behind her. With his pair of arms, he held a strong metal pipe and he was aiming for her head._

_Reborn would have immediately run to her side, but another man was charging at him. Under practiced ease, he shot the man down to the ground. Many other were also blocking his way. He pushed himself forward to his student's aid, not caring of the danger he was setting foot in._

"_Tsuna, watch out behind you!"_

_Tsuna immediately turned to look back at Reborn's warning, but it was too late. The man swung as hard as he can and metal collided with Tsuna's skin and threw her flying in the air._

"_TSUNA!" Reborn had become too desperate to be alert. His heart was pounding in his chest and his forehead was wet with cold sweat._

_He saw another one of the enemy lift up the unconscious brunette in his arms and smirked at Reborn._

_He was too fixed on his gaze that Reborn failed to dodge the bullets coming his way. His back was fully open and his opponent made full use of that._

_He was shot._

_Once on his stomach and twice in his right thigh. His clothes became smudged with blood and because of the injury he fell to the ground._

_The pain was excruciating, but he paid no heed to that. He needed to save his student._

_But he had no power to do so._

_He watched in horror as the man carried Tsuna away._

"_TSUNAHIME!"_

… He grimaced at the memory. He remembered how his desperation was the only thing that made him stay conscious until back-up had finally come and he finally succumbed to the darkness.

It was a few days after that that he awoke in the hospital and Nono had come personally to tell him the results of the fight. He along with two other badly injured men was the only survivor to the fight and among those three people he was the only one who was already awake.

Reborn asked him if they managed to save Tsuna or not. Unfortunately, Nono only stayed quiet and shook his head.

Tsuna was gone and it was his entire fault.

For the days proceeding that moment, Reborn had felt hollow. A body without a soul. He dedicated all his time to find traces of his student's whereabouts. Missing meals after meals as well as sleep. Yet he found none. During that time was when he found that man. The man with the checkered mask. Reborn traded his life with the devil and he became cursed for knowledge.

Reborn did not know whether he regret meeting that man with the checkered face or not. However, what's done was done. There was no use in brooding over the matter.

The day was still young and the Namimori shopping district was still deserted. It was 12 o'clock in the afternoon so the place was starting to get crowded. He didn't really enjoy being in such a large crowd. Nevertheless it was harder for anyone to spot him this way. Therefore he could easily pass the day without encountering Tsuna.

BUMP

Apparently Reborn thought so too soon.

"Ah, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you."

Turning around, Reborn couldn't see her face since she bowed down to apologize. Yet even without seeing her face Reborn could be sure the girl was none other than Sawada Tsunahime herself. Reborn resisted to slap his face in exasperation. Out of all people in the world why did he have to meet with the one person he wanted to avoid the most?

Since Tsuna didn't receive any response she decided to sneak a peek at him. Under his gaze he could easily see the bewilderment in her big, brown eyes.

"You…" she started.

Reborn really hoped that his hat covered most of his facial features.

"You, do I know you? You seem…. familiar."

Oh he'd better skedaddle before Tsuna figured him out.

"Sorry miss, I think you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Sorry! I didn't mean to pry!" Tsuna immediately scurried off.

"If that's all then I'll be on my way." For the first few steps he took, he almost felt relieved.

"No, wait!" Reborn flinched. She couldn't have discovered him already could she?

"I do know you." Without turning around Reborn swallowed hard. He'd just have to deny any accusation she'd make.

"You're related to Reborn, right?"

If he didn't have his pride to keep, Reborn really would've fell right then and there. Had he really overestimated his student's recognition skills?

"I… I really didn't mean to impose, but… I mean you two really look alike. You must be related to him. Could you be… his brother?"

He really did overestimate her. How could he have forgotten? This was no-good Tsuna he was thinking about. This kind of reaction was definitely to be expected. Still… since she already made her own conclusion, why not just go along with the flow? It was his birthday after all. Why not have some fun?

Unconsciously his lips formed a smirk.

"If you know Reborn," he turned around to face her before continuing, "then that would mean you are Sawada Tsunahime?"

"Y-yeah." Somehow Reborn got the feeling that Tsuna felt regret for voicing out her thoughts before. "Well, at least I think I am…"

Expecting for her to continue, Reborn stayed quiet.

"Um, actually…" Tsuna hesitated whether or not to tell the man of her condition, "I haven't gotten my… memories back yet."

Earlier Tsuna seemed so confident on her allegation. Now she didn't even have the guts to look at him in the eye. He should let her suffer the consequences should he not?

With one swift movement Reborn closed the distance between them and held up her chin so that she was face to face with him. Their faces were only inches apart. "Hmm, now that I got a closer look I do see a remembrance. Little Tsu-chan is all grown up huh?"

Tsuna finally seemed to get the gist of things and her face immediately lit up a bright red flush. Reborn couldn't help but think all of his student's reactions were interesting to watch. Sadly Tsuna pushed him away right after.

"Uh, um," Tsuna started fidgeting again, no doubt embarrassed. "I've got to go now. So, I'll be seeing you around."

Rushing off, Tsuna failed to notice the hitman was following her. He wasn't about to let his source of fun get away just like that.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"So why are you still following me?" questioned the brunette who was eyeing him irritatedly.

"Why else?" Reborn kept his act up, "I want to meet up with my 'brother'. I figured sticking around you would have a higher chance for me to see him."

"Urgh" she grumbled. "Oh yeah, you haven't told me your name yet."

_Crap, I forgot about that. Better figure out something quick._

"Oh? Little ol' Tsuna had actually dared to forget my name?"

If Reborn didn't look so intimidating when he looked down on her Tsuna wouldn't have quivered.

"I couldn't help it! Anyways why do you keep calling me Tsu-chan? It's embarrassing."

_Because that was what your mother used to call you, _he almost blurted out loud.

"Then do you prefer I follow Reborn and call you dame-Tsuna?" he taunted.

Agitated by Reborn's comment se unconsciously increased her volume "No!"

"If you don't want to be called Tsu-chan or dame-Tsuna then what should I call you now." Reborn looked straight in Tsuna's eye.

Blood went to her cheeks as he did so. His gaze was just so… nerve-wracking. Thinking that her face was bright red by then Tsuna looked away. Softly she mumbled, "You can just call me Tsuna."

Sadly she was ignored. Apparently Reborn had another idea.

"Oh I know, I'll just call you Tuna. It's perfect."

"Of course not!" exclaimed the brunette louder than she had actually meant. Passers-by gave her a strange look.

"Really, just call me Tsuna. All my friends call me that." Tsuna turned and started walking ahead again. Reborn trailed behind her.

"I'm older than you. I can call you anything I want," Reborn caught up to her and whispered in her ears, "right, Tu-na?"

Reborn had taken her by surprise. In response she jumped away from him.

"Don't do that.

Looking at Tsuna's reaction Reborn can't help but smirk while his student continued to walk straight ahead and ignored him. That's when the query came to him.

"Where are you heading anyways?"

His student halted and looked at him in bewilderment. At first Reborn thought that perhaps she didn't catch what he just said but it appears it was wrong because of her next sentence.

"Now that you mentioned it," she muttered as if thinking to herself. "I… don't know."

If Tsuna were to look closely she could have seen his eye twitched because the instant he heard her reason he immediately felt the urge to smack his student with a hammer.

"What do you mean you don't know?" spat Reborn clearly displeased. If this was Vongola's future boss, Reborn really dreaded what the future held for the famiglia.

"I actually wanted to meet up with a few friends of mine but they suddenly couldn't come and I didn't really have anything else planned."

"That means you've been walking without a destination all this time?"

Slowly she nodded in agreement.

Reborn sighed exasperatedly. Apparently he was the one who had to take charge. He grabbed her hand in his and started dragging her.

"Hie!" she shrieked. "Where are you taking me?"

"Where else? We're going to find something fun to do."

~MyMysteriousSoul~

He saw the amazement in Tsuna's face when they finally arrived to their destination. He usually wasn't the kind of person to go to this place but he had thought that Tsuna would enjoy it much better than going around in circles.

"The arcade? That's your idea of fun?" she questioned disbelievingly.

"Well it was not like you made any suggestions."

"But aren't you too old for this?"

An eyebrow twitched.

There was no way he would take that insult lightly. Besides he was only at the age of 24.

To Tsuna, Reborn's glare was so menacing that she couldn't help but turn pale and backed up a few steps.

"Sorry!" she bowed, "Please ignore what I just said."

His student always expressed a lot of emotion on her face. That's what Reborn thought made Tsuna really adorable. He couldn't just get mad at her for long.

He patted his student's head before entering the store. "Come on, let's just go in."

"Ah, wait for me."

Line-

"I give up," surrendered Tsuna as she held her arms up in defeat. "I can't beat you. You're just too good at this."

Childish as it seemed, Reborn actually enjoyed killing time here with Tsuna. They'd tried a bunch of different game machines and this time it was a shooting game. Being a hitman, Reborn was already used to using a real gun. This game was a piece of cake. He had started winning right after they started the game.

"Are you sure it wasn't just you being no-good as always that made you lose?"

She puffed her cheek and crossed her arms. Clearly the brunette was not happy by that statement. "Of course not! How come you expected me to even put up a fight against you anyways? You're the world's greatest hitman after all."

He froze. His face might not show any signs of shock but he could feel the raising heartbeat in his chest. Did Tsuna finally remember him? She didn't mention anything about that though and he knew how much of a bad liar his student is. Perhaps she had just realized it?

"Tsuna, did you—" his inquiry was cut short by his student's rambling.

"Huh, I wonder why I said the world's strongest hitman?" Tsuna's eyebrows were scrunched up in the frustration of confusement. "That was Reborn's title wasn't it? Not yours. Sorry for getting mixed up. I kind of said it without thinking…"

It was strange that Reborn didn't know if he were relived or disappointed by that last sentence. Instead of dawdling on the subject he decide to ignore it all.

"Come on. Let's just try another game machine," stated Reborn as he left the shooting game booth.

Whilst walking he could hear the footsteps trailing behind him. "Uh um, okay!"

"Is there anything in particular you want to play next?" Silence answered his question. The sound of footstep had also disappeared. "Oi, Tsuna?"

Turning around, he found his student next to a claw crane. Both her hands were pressed against the glass and she stared at the prizes so intensely that she didn't pay any attention to Reborn.

Truthfully Reborn thought Tsuna had quite the cute expression right then. Not that he'd mention it out loud. Honestly the way her eyes sparkled at the thought of getting a prize was adorable.

"Hmph, what a bother," he complained when in reality he was actually happy to get an excuse to get the brunette a present.

He stood next to the brunette and asked, "which one do you want?"

Tsuna immediately looked to him in bafflement "Eh?"

"I'm not going to repeat this again so listen Tuna," Tsuna pouted at her new nickname, "Tell me which one do you want and I'll get it for you.

"No, I mean, you don't need to do that. I… I was just admiring the doll, that's all. I don't… want it." As she said the last sentence her volume unconsciously grew smaller.

"Stupid," Reborn flicked her forehead before adding, "Did you really think I couldn't see through your lie? Besides, you're bad at lying."

"But it's almost impossible to win at this kind of games right?"

"Don't underestimate me Tsuna."

Fishing out a coin from his pocket, he inserted into the machine. His student watched as he maneuvered the crane smoothly and grabbed a small lion plushy.

He got the crane to drop right on top of the doll and as the crane lifted it up Tsuna couldn't tear her eyes away. She anxiously hoped that it wouldn't fall and bit her lip.

To her amazement, it didn't

Reborn took out the prize and handed it to the brunette.

"Is this one fine?"

"N-no!" Tsuna flailed her arms around, "I mean, I love it but I can't accept it. You should keep it."

"Do you really think I would keep a stuffed… lion?"

For a moment Tsuna actually thought of him hugging the lion and almost burst out laughing. She had just enough self control not to, however, she couldn't hold back a few giggles from escaping.

"See? So either you keep it or I throw it out."

"B-but, I can't accept that from you."

Reborn pushed the stuffed animal into her hands. "Keep it. Just think of it as an early birthday present."

The brunette's eyes widened in surprise. "I don't even know when my birthday is."

"Oh, you forgot huh? Your birthday is actually—"

"Tsuna-chan!"

"Haru-chan! What are you doing here?"

As the two continued to chat Reborn's phone vibrated in his pocket. He took out the phone and stared at the caller ID. It was Verde.

"Tuna," called Reborn.

"Tuna?" asked Haru as she looked at the shorter brunette.

With rosy red cheeks Tsuna complained, "I told you not to call me tha—"

Tsuna froze from head to toe. To say that she was shocked was an under statement. The man she just met hours ago kissed her on the cheek.

"Hahi!" Haru blushed as she watched the scene.

If Tsuna's face was pink before now she had turned completely crimson red.

"Wha-"

"What are you getting worked up for? I was just showing my gratitude for your company. I have to go now."

"But y-you k-ki-kissed my cheek!"

"Don't you know? That's how Italians say thank you," lied Reborn. "I'll see you around Tuna."

As he left he heard the girls chat behind him.

"Tsuna-chan who was that man?"

"He's Reborn's brother."

"Hahi! Seriously?"

Their voices getting hazier with each passing step.

Reborn and called the recipient of his previous missed call. Now that the fun and games had ended, he must attend to more important matters.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

"Reborn, where have you been? How come I haven't seen you all day?" Tsuna asked him as she joined him in the veranda.

The sun had set and the moon had rose to the sky. It was fifteen minutes to midnight and the gang was gathered in Yamamoto's family restaurant. They were actually here together to celebrate Tsuna's birthday. Gokudera was the one who had come up with the idea initially and had Yamamoto and his father help the preparation.

The plan was actually kept a secret from his student until earlier that evening when Gokudera personally had picked the two girls up. That was what happened according to his fall henchmen's (the dragonflies) report.

Reborn himself was not present then. During that time he had actually been discussing the details of the Arcobaleno curse with Verde. Now that he was back in his baby form, he could finally show up as Reborn in front of Tsuna again.

"I've been busy."

"I guess you really were. It's just that it felt strange that I didn't get to see you until now."

"Where are the others?"

"Yamamoto, Gokudera and Haru said that they were going to make the final preparations for my birthday cake so I'm not allowed to help. Kyoya-kun didn't come." There was a hint of disappointment to her last sentence.

Reborn was aware of the growing feelings his student has for the skylark. However, he wasn't especially happy about it. So he decided to overlook it all together. Perhaps he should be looking out for Tsuna's love life more, especially since whoever marries her would be partially in charge of Vongola. Even so he really didn't want to think about his precious little Tsuna in the hands of another man. Not if he could help it that is.

"By the way Reborn did you know your brother was in town? I met him earlier but I can't seem to remember much about him. He really did remind me of you though."

"Yeah, I heard."

"He even got me this really cute doll at the arcade," Tsuna instantly became really happy "I'll show it to you at home later on."

"Idiot Tsuna, do you really think I'm interested in dolls?"

"Wow," Tsuna said in awe, "You reacted just like him. As expected of brothers."

_We're the same person…_

Reborn decided to tease his student a bit, "So did you catch his name?"

"Obviously, his name was…." Tsuna turned dead silent. She finally realized that she still didn't know his name. She hung out with him that whole afternoon for goodness sake.

A smirk formed on his lips. He already knew the answer but he still had to ask, "You forgot to ask him didn't you?"

"Ah shut it, Reborn!" Tsuna's face once more turn red in embarrassment. She was blushing a whole lot that day. "He's your brother anyways, why are you asking me for his name when you are the one who should be telling me?"

"Speaking of which, this had been on my mind on a while. Your brother taught me this earlier."

Tsuna kissed Reborn on the cheek. It was a short, sweet peck that barely lasted a second. His student was bright red as she retreated. Obviously she was very nervous since she kept trying to look at everything but Reborn's face.

"What was that for?"

"Uh, I, uh, that was…" Tsuna was restless and was unsure as she continued, "the Italian way of saying thank you, right?"

That lie, Reborn didn't think Tsuna would have believed it. He didn't predict something like this would have happened. He didn't mind it though. In fact he was actually grateful he decided to lie earlier. A deep, low chuckle escaped his lips.

"Dame-Tsuna you're so gullible," he mumbled to himself.

"E-eh? Did you say something, Reborn?"

"Nothing," Reborn brushed her off, "it's fine."

A pout dawned on Tsuna's face. She definitely was not satisfied with his answer. However, before she was able to pry further on it, someone inside called them both. From the voice, Reborn would bet that that was Yamamoto.

"I'm coming," shouted Tsuna back before facing Reborn, "Let's go Reborn."

Together they walked back inside.

"In any case I just wanted to thank you. If it weren't for you I don't think I would have any friends now."

Reborn smirked, "Of course. It's my job to help you gain family members to prepare for the future."

"I still don't want to be a boss you know. And I know this is late, but happy birthday Reborn."

"How did yo—"

"Gokudera told me earlier."

In a few moments, his birthday would end. And even if it wasn't one of his best days, he sure did enjoy it. He thought so as he watched Tsuna smiled at him before entering the room. It was the expiration of a special day and the beginning of another.

Following suit Tsuna's action he found himself in the Yamamoto's family dojo. It would have been empty and dark in any other day than today. The two boys had actually done a decent job in decorating the place. Streamers of a variety of color hung from the ceiling and a table was set in the middle with all sorts of Japanese food. He looked around but it seems that there were only teenagers here. Tsuyoshi must've left them on their own to give them some privacy.

"Hime!" Gokudera called, "I've prepared you a cake."

Yamamoto came and wrapped an arm around Gokudera's shoulder. "I? Don't you mean we, Gokudera?"

The teenage bomber pushed his arms away. "Shut up baseball idiot!"

The taller of the two boys only laughed off the insult.

"Come on Tsuna-chan," Haru joined in the conversation and linked her arm in Tsuna's.

"H-Haru-chan!" protested Tsuna when the darker-haired girl dragged her to one of the tables. On top of it was a single cake with two candles in the shape of one and four fully lit up. A warm orange glow came from the flame. It reminded Reborn of Tsuna's own Dying Will flame.

Haru guided Tsuna to the chair behind the table and made her sit on it. Reborn hopped on the table next to the cake.

"Why don't we do a countdown until midnight," he suggested.

Haru clapped her hands together, "That's a great idea!"

"Yeah, we should do that," agreed Yamamoto, "I'll do it."

"No way, baseball idiot! I'm Hime's right hand man, I should count."

"Hahi! Haru wants to do it too."

"Then, why don't we just do it together?"

"Haha, whatever you say Gokudera."

"Then I as Hime's right hand man will start," Gokudera cleared his throat, "five."

"I'll go next, haha. Four."

"This time it's Haru's turn! Three!"

"Two," Reborn pointed his green Leon gun at Tsuna. "Dame-Tsuna you do it next."

"Hiee! Reborn don't take out your gun! One"

"HAPPY BIRTDAY TSUNA!"

* * *

><p>Okay, I know this is late by like three weeks, so I'm so sorry for the later update. I hope you guys forgive me. I still worked hard on the chapter though so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it even if it's just for a bit.<p>

I dedicate this chapter to Ayz283 for giving me the inspiration for making Reborn's birthday chapter. I hope you like it~

Anyhow please forgive me for making this decision but I'm not going to update for November because I want focus on my studies. So I'll update chapter 9 on December 'kay?

To all the people listed here below, thanks for reviews for chapter 7!

**crazyblondefanfictionlover10 1**

**Belletiger BT**

**Sharkdude5**

**AniManGa19930**

**Soul Vrazy**

**BrokenBlackCat**

**RandomReviewer00 **(Anonymous)

**Ayami Logic**

**Kichou**

**XxShadowfangxX**

**Msdgirl**

Ciao~


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn.

Chapter 9

When Tsuna thought of men in black suits, she'd think of spies, agents or even Reborn, her tutor. After all, Reborn had used a mini-sized black suit most of the time. In any case lots of men in black suits would look suspicious, especially in places like neighborhoods.

That was exactly the case when Tsuna came home from school that day. Hoards of men in pitch-black suits were gathered in front of Hibari's house. They were big, buff, and very scary in Tsuna's eyes.

'_HIIEEE! What are those guys doing here!? This isn't one of Reborn's crazy antics is it?_' Tsuna thought.

Tsuna's first instinct as her dame-self—no, as any average teenage girl, was to turn around, walk away and hope everything goes back to normal when she comes back later on.

'_If all this is Reborn's fault then I don't want to be involved in any part of it. I'll just go to either Gokudera or Yamamoto's place in the mean time.'_

Tsuna turned on her heel and was about to walk away when suddenly her path was blocked. One of the men in black was thrown into the ground, which landed right in front of her.

"Urgh"

"HIEEE!" screeched Tsuna in alarm.

The man had his suit in a mess as well as bruises, cuts and other injuries on his body. His face was beaten into a pulp. Over all he turned out to look even more frightening than his comrades.

In this situation Tsuna didn't know whether she should check up on the guy or run away, screaming in terror. The latter being the more reasonable option to her. However, Tsuna didn't choose either. All because she heard that familiar voice.

"I'll bite you all to death for crowding!"

"It was Kyoya-kun!" That sentence was the first thing in her mind when she heard that voice.

Hibari Kyoya was targeted by men from all sides. Every single one of them had attempted to hurt him but none succeeded. The younger boy was much stronger than all of them combined.

He was about to swing his tonfa at another enemy when a black leather strap bound around it. The whip was pulled and the tonfa was jerked of from Kyoya's hand. It flew across the air before reaching the hand of the whip's owner.

The owner of the whip was a foreigner—with shiny blond hair, a long jawline and tall build. Even though his choice clothing consisted of a black-printed shirt, khaki pants and yellow-green jacket. Tsuna thought he had the looks of prince that came out of a fairytale. He already had the face, all he'd need would be a costume, a few props and a dashing smile and it'd be perfect. Sadly none of it was there.

The foreigner, in Tsuna's point-of-view looked very, very serious and that expression rather frightened Tsuna.

Kyoya's expression wasn't any better either. He looked just as scary. If looks could kill then the foreigner would already be dead from his glare. He definitely wasn't happy to be rid of his prized tonfa.

"I don't know who you are," the blonde man started with his eyes fixed on the younger boy's, "but it doesn't seem like you would stop if I ask you too. So I'm sorry but I'm going to have to use force on you."

Hibari smirked in response, "You'd better be strong, herbivore."

As both combatant shifted to their respective pose, the foreigner with his whip and Kyoya with his single tonfa, the other unscathed men backed up to create more space for them.

Things were turning from bad to worse and they had to be stopped before real damage was done. Between a fight of two strong men like these, a girl like her would easily be crushed. Yet that fact didn't cross her mind even once. Her main priority now was stop them from fighting and stop them she will.

"STOP IT!"

Tsuna screamed so loud that everyone who heard her flinched. Heck, she even surprised herself.

"Herbivore…" Kyoya muttered under his breath.

Everyone's attention all turned to her. Now that Tsuna was in the middle of the spotlight she panicked. Oh she really had done it this time. How could she untangle herself from this mess? Surely just running away was useless.

"U-um, t-that is I-I mean… " Tsuna tried stuttering quietly, "no one should fight… Well not here anyways… You'll bother the neighbors… and… and" Her volume kept decreasing as she continued to babble.

Luckily Reborn decided to show up and save her.

"Dame-Tsuna's right," Reborn appeared out of nowhere to stand in front of Tsuna, "You guys would destroy the neighborhood if you fight here."

"Reborn!" exclaimed both Tsuna and the foreigner. Both didn't expect the other to know him and turned to look at each other in confusion.

"Eh do you know him, miss?" the blonde man asked the brunette.

"Y—"

"Of course she does," Reborn interrupted, "and you should know her too, Dino. After all she's your senpai. Though the situation's rather reversed right now."

"What?" This time only Tsuna screamed, but Dino was equally as shocked

"T-that means, you're Sawada Tsunahime."

"Tch," Hibari clicked his tongue to show his discontentment with the change in situation, "Infant, take care of the crowd. I'm going home."

Hibari had already went and retrieved the tonfa Dino dropped and was dead set on returning back home.

"Ah, wait for me Kyoya-kun." Tsuna followed Hibari's footsteps to enter the house

Just as Hibari opened the door, Reborn spoke up again.

"My, my, Hibari. Are you really that upset you didn't get to fight with my stupid student?" Dino complained at Reborn's remark.

The black-haired boy stopped his actions to glare at the Infant as if to say "What do you think, infant?"

Reborn smirked at his actions, while both his students were both confused at the development.

"Then why don't you let Dino here stay in the house for a couple of days? That way you'd get another chance to bite him to death."

For a second, the pair of steel-grey orbs just stared blankly at Reborn before looking over to the foreigner.

"You," Dino looked left and right before pointing to himself, "If you dare to run away, I'll bite you to death."

His presence immediately disappeared as he entered the house with Tsuna skittering quickly behind him.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

The sun fled from the moon as night befall Namimori town. The sky always looked different according to the presence of the sun, bright in the day and dark in the night. And Tsuna thought that perhaps the same could be said for the young Cavallone boss. But instead of the sun his subordinates would fit better in the context.

When Tsuna first saw the blonde boss she thought that he was amazing boss. He had lots of followers that trusted him so much, good looks and impressive fighting skills. Tsuna didn't know much about mafia bosses yet she could have said for sure that Dino was a great leader that was suited to be looked up upon. However, she had yet to find out all there is to the blonde Cavallone boss.

Unlike Tsuna's first impression of him, Dino was surprisingly clumsy. He had tripped over nothing and knocked over so many things that Tsuna lost count. At first Tsuna thought that his actions were because of anxiety of being in a stranger's house or jetlag. Even so when his strange behavior continued until dinner, Tsuna no longer believed so.

During dinnertime Tsuna was taken aback at how messy Dino ate. He reasoned with the fact that he wasn't used to chopsticks. Nevertheless no matter how Tsuna looked at him, she thought he made more of a mess eating than a three-year-old child.

Reborn was the one to have put her mind at ease. Well not really—she still thought it didn't make much sense—but he made her feel closer to it than before. According to Reborn, Dino was the type of boss who's only reliable in front of his subordinates. In other words unless a family member is present Dino would only be as useful as Dame-Tsuna.

Overall Dino was a great guy, a good mentor to follow. He even said he'd be an older brother figure to Tsuna, although Hibari didn't really appreciate his good intent.

Throughout the day, Hibari was only interested in making the Italian fight him and most of the attempts ended up with a pissed off Hibari, a messed-up room and Dino tied up with his own whip.

The pattern continued until the following day.

The sun had barely rose when it happened. As usual Tsuna was still in deep slumber, off in the wonderful land of dreams when a very loud 'crash' awoke her. At first she thought that she might have imagined the crash and tried to return to sleep, until Reborn slapped her in the face.

SMACK

"Wake up, Dame-Tsuna."

If she wasn't so sleepy Tsuna have shown more of a response, but the slap wasn't all that painful and her mind was still fuzzy. Still she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"What is it now, Reborn?"

"Tch, I should have hit her harder," mumbled Reborn.

"What did you say just now? I didn't hear you."

"Get up and go downstairs. There's a problem you need to solve."

Tsuna whined, "Aww~ But it's barely six in the morning."

"I said," Reborn retrieved Leon from the top of his fedora and pointed it at Tsuna once the chameleon changed into a gun, "NOW."

"Hieeee! Yes sir!"

Tsuna literally jumped from her bed and headed straight for the door. Once she opened the door, she sniffed something that smelled like burnt ash.

Immediately Tsuna rushed downstairs. She ran and ran from the hallway, down the stairs and into the kitchen, where she thought was the source of the smell. As she got closer and closer to her destination the horrible smell got stronger, a sign that showed how correct her hunch was.

Eventually she reached the kitchen and the scene before her was truly a sight to behold. Black smoke clouded the ceilings and pieces of silverware, cutlery and broken pieces of plates and cups lay dead on the floor.

Similarly to the other times Tsuna found a situation like this, Dino was trapped by his own whip. Apparently it also caused him to trip and fall to lay limp on the floor. Thankfully he was lucky enough to not hit any of the glass shards. Right in front of him was Hibari standing with a murderous glare that sent Tsuna shivers down her spine.

No matter how many times she saw it, Tsuna could never get used to a a catastrophe like this.

"HIEEEE! What had just happened here?"

Both male looked at her. Dino had a hopeful look on his face, while Hibari softened his glare.

"Apparently my student tried to make toast," said Reborn as he appeared besides her.

How could making toast lead to such a mess? Tsuna wanted to doubt him but there was a blackish looking thing in the toaster and she knew that Dino was good at making a mess out of things.

_How in the world can you fix this place?! But more importantly I have to help Dino-san!_

As Tsuna scurried over to Dino's side, Hibari took this moment as a cue to leave.

"Herbivore, you should go to school soon too and make sure that foolish herbivore leaves from here," Hibari pulled out a tonfa, "permanently."

With that Hibari left an infant, two idiots in shock and a messed up situation at home.

"Haha, sorry Tsuna," Dino tried to brighten up the situation after he recovered, "I'm supposed to be you big brother, yet all I seem to do is just cause you trouble."

"O-of coursed not! You're a big help," Tsuna frantically denied.

"More like a big nuisance," added Reborn.

That statement really stabbed Dino's heart. His surrounding atmosphere turned gloomy straightaway.

Tsuna worriedly looked at him. She wanted to ease his worries but she couldn't really disagree with Reborn.

She clapped her hands together when she thought of an idea. The spotlight now turned to her.

"Ah, Dino-san, if you'd like why don't I show you around Namimori? If you hadn't gone already that is."

"What about your school?"

"Yeah, Dame-Tsuna, do tell. Did you really thought I'd let you skip school for a day?"

Reborn had approached her and was pointing his Leon-gun right at her head.

Nervous as she was, Tsuna couldn't help but to turn pale. Still, she gulped and decided to go along with her bright idea.

"W-well, Reborn," she started to sweat feverishly, "I-I w-was thinking t-that maybe I c-could h-have a few p-p-pointers from Dino-san to being a mafia b-boss? I wouldn't be a-able to a-a-ask freely if Yamamoto and Gokudera were to s-stick around and t-they'd probably worry a-and try to keep me away f-from Dino-san if they knew he's a m-mafia b-boss."

"Okay," Leon returned to his original form, "I approve of your answer, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna could only sigh in relief when the gun wasn't pointed to her head anymore.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Namimori Shopping District was not as crowded as usual that morning. It was still busy as always, just without the younger generation walking around. Most of the young ones were at school. One of the only exceptions would be those who had skipped, which included the blond-brunette pair.

To ease her guilt for her deed she didn't dare to wear her uniform. It was a dead giveaway she was skipping and she didn't want to be found out, especially by a certain skylark, until much later. She wanted to be sure she properly got to spend time with her older brother figure. Just for that day, at least. If Kyoya were to know of the rendezvous, he would surely drag her back to school and really bite Dino to death without a second thought.

Sometimes Tsuna loved how Kyoya helped her from straying from the right path even if it was for the school. It made her feel wanted—cared for. Even so there were other times that she wished Kyoya actually cared less for her actions. This was one of those times.

Tsuna showed Dino everything she knew about Namimori. The best place to buy groceries, the best and worst cafes and restaurants, and the ideal places for hanging out. There was much to say about Namimori. After all, it was her one and only favorite town. Yet even if she had fun visiting the ups and downs of the town, there was still that nagging guilt pulling her mind.

Dino was quick to notice the strangeness in Tsuna's mood from time to time. His senses were especially keen since Romario, one of his subordinates, had decided to follow their little tour.

At first he wasn't quite sure what to do since he had barely known her. He would have asked Reborn for advice if he was around although Dino was partially relieved his mentor wasn't there. Eventually he decided to ask anyways.

"Tsuna, is there anything bugging you? I'm grateful you want to spend time with me and all, but if you want to go to school, go ahead. I'm sure there's still some classes left for the day."

"Oh no, Dino-san. I'm really enjoying myself being with you right now. It's just I kinda feel guilty…" Tsuna averted her eyes for a moment as she said the last sentence.

"Perhaps boss and I could do something to ease your worries, Sawada-san?" Romario asked.

Tsuna flinched and the trio halted into a stop.

"Is there something the matter, Tsuna?" asked the worried Italian.

"No, nothing's the matter, really. It's just that um..." Tsuna glanced worriedly at the oldest man among them.

"Romario," he reminded the brunette of his name.

"Yes, Romario-san. Sorry for forgetting your name again but please, just call me by my given name," suddenly Tsuna found the hem of her skirt very interesting, "It's just that I'm not used to being called by my family name just yet."

"Forgive me for my lack of attentiveness," Romario bowed.

"Ah, you don't need to be so polite. It's not a big deal. More importantly," she turned her attention to the other Italian, "do you mind if I ask you a question, Dino-san?"

Tsuna realized her blunder and blushed slightly, "Not the one from just now though!"

"Ahaha, of course. Anything for my cute little sister," said Dino as he winked.

"Well, I was thinking… Why… did you… decide to become a mafia boss? I'm sure there are plenty of other professions you would be suited for."

"Uh, well, that's a bit hard to explain," Dino scratched the back of his head unsurely, "At first I was like you, Tsuna. I didn't want to be involved in the mafia even if I was born in that world. I wanted to be a normal person."

"Eh, really?"

"Yeah. I guess the past me was similar to how you are right now. Bad at sports, clumsy, an idiot, wait sorry I didn't mean to insult you Tsuna."

"It's okay, just continue please, Dino-san."

"My point is that I wasn't suited to be mafia boss at all. Reborn was the one who changed all that."

"Is Reborn really that great?"

"Hmmm, you could put it that way. You were supposed to know him better than I do anyways."

"Oh..."

Dino pats Tsuna's head. "It's fine, I'm sure you'll gain your memories soon. In any case, do you still want to hear my reason?" Tsuna nodded.

"I'm sure you know this, but Reborn has a very… different style of tutoring from most, if not all people. And most of them involved pain to the boot. I really didn't want to be trained by him of all people but it was not like I could escape, you know." Dino chuckled lightly.

"Gradually his efforts bore fruit. Slowly but surely I found a reason to be a mafia boss—my subordinates. One by one they grew to be very important to me that I no longer had a chance to let go and abandon them anymore. That was why I decide to chose this path and get stronger in order to protect everything precious to me."

Tsuna saw as Dino walked a bit in front of her. His back seemed to be so broad, accepting all the burdens and pains as a leader. Tsuna decided that her first thought of the guy was right. He was truly a wonderful boss.

Over the sky black clouds had come and covered it. Small droplets of water started to pour down.

"Speaking of precious, Romario, have you seen Enzio?"

"Eh? Enzio?" Tsuna couldn't help but to be curious of who or what Enzio was.

"Yes. He's a pet turtle Reborn gave to me when I graduated. It was actually because I wanted Leon and since he couldn't give me his partner, he gave me Enzio. He's Leon's child." Dino flashed a boyish grin.

'_H-how can a chameleon have a turtle as its child?!' _Tsuna thought, sweat dropping.

"Weren't you keeping him yourself, boss?"

"Huh? But… he's not with me—"

ROARRR

Like it was on cue, a loud roar was heard. At the sound Tsuna noticed both Italian turned pale.

"What… was that?" questioned Tsuna.

That question was hardly a rhetorical one so it was obvious Tsuna wanted someone to answer her. Sadly she didn't get any because before her companions were able to hear her question, they had already ran off to the origin of the roar.

"W-wait for me!"

~MyMysteriousSoul~

Gigantic.

That was the only word that passed through Tsuna's mind the moment she saw it. There were other words that could describe the monster too. For example; green, spiked and reptile could have been easily used.

Tsuna stopped at a bridge closest to where the monster was along with the two Italian.

"Boss, this is bad. If we don't do something Enzio will most likely destroy the town."

"Romario! Quickly call the other for back up. Make sure they protect the townsfolk from getting hurt! I'll hold Enzio back."

"Straightaway, boss!" Romario saluted briefly before running off.

Dino was also about to leave when Tsuna held him back.

"Wait, Dino-san! Just what the heck is that thing?"

"That's the pet I was telling you about earlier. Enzio is a turtle that can expand its size by absorbing water. It must have been thrown into the river for it to get this big. You heard what Romario said just now, right? It could destroy the town, that's why I need to stop him from rampaging."

"But, Dino-san—"

"No buts! I've g—" Dino tripped over his own foot and landed flat on his face on the concrete. "Ack!"

"—none of your family members… are here…" Tsuna wanted to warn him but it seems he was too late.

"Sorry about that small blunder. Now I'll definitely stop En— Ah!"

Dino tried to unwind his whip to show his determination but it ended up tying itself around both his legs instead. Dino could not help but fall again. Tsuna ended up having to untangle him again.

'_Without his men Dino-san has no chance of winning against that ferocious thing! What will happen now?'_

Just as the thought passed her mind when they were overshadowed. Enzio had noticed them and approached. His form was a shock to Tsuna. Thunder flashed and Enzio looked scarier than ever to her.

'_Oh no, I'm scared. I-I c-can't move.'_

That was when a black figure suddenly jumped from behind her. In the haze of the downpour her visions were slightly clouded. It took her a moment to notice who it was exactly.

"K-Kyoya-kun!"

"Kyoya!"

Hibari was the same as him, soaked to the bones from the storm.

"Hebivore, get that fool back on his feet. He has to take responsibility for this mess."

"Geez, Kyoya you could loosen up a bit you know."

"Hmph"

After Kyoya arrived the fear was washed away along with the rain. His presence always helped her feel safe. Tsuna once again set to work on untangling the whip.

'_Alright, just one more knot and it'll be loose. How did it get tied up so tightly in the first place?'_

As she pulled on the last knot, the impact made her fall backwards. She thought she'd hit the ground on her head, but that didn't happen. A hand wrapped around her shoulder stopped her.

"Need some help?"

Brown orbs meet black ones.

"Yamamoto!"

Yamamoto grinned, "Yo!"

"Hime! Are you okay?" Gokudera exclaimed from her other side, catching up to them.

"Gokudera, you're here too!"

"You're precious to us Tsuna, so it's a natural that'd we'll save you when you're in a pinch." Yamamoto smiled to her gently.

"I hate to admit it but base-ball idiot is right. I don't know about him but I'll always be on your side! I'm your right hand man after all!" Gokudera exclaimed.

"You guys," Tsuna was moved to tears.

"Hate to break the touching reunion guys, but we still have a quite bad situation here." Dino interrupted.

"Is he your friend Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked.

"Well…"

Gokudera widened his eyes. "You're Bucking Horse Dino! What are you doing here?"

"I'll explain later. Take care of Tsuna for me, okay?"

"Haha, sure thing."

"Of course! That's my job as Hime's right hand man."

Dino joined Kyoya in battling against Enzio. They may have fought again and again yesterday but they actually make a good pair, Tsuna had to admit.

'_Wait, why did Dino become reliable again?'_

"As expected of our boss," Romario said, standing next to them.

"Romario-san! What are you doing back here?"

"I got worried that boss might mess up, but looks like my worry was useless."

Tsuna sweat dropped. _'No, you're wrong there, Romario-san.'_

As the fight commenced the rain slowly dissipate. Once the sun started to show again, it dried Enzio and the turtle shrunk to it's original size.

~MyMysteriousSoul~

It's been a full day since the incident. There was only a little damage from Enzio's rampage and Dino's Family had taken cared of it. Tsuna also got a lecture and detention from Kyoya for skipping school. As one would have expect, Gokudera had tried to blow him up for doing such a thing. Tsuna was really glad Yamamoto and Reborn managed to convince him otherwise.

Reborn also gave Tsuna punishment for skipping school. In exchange for a whole free day, Tsuna had to complete a pile load of homework by the day and get a score of at least 90 for them all. She had of course complained, whined and tried to escape but eventually she gave up and did it. Both Yamamoto and Gokudera had offered to help her but they were chased away by Reborn.

It was during the time she did the work that Tsuna realized Dino hadn't contacted them since the day before. Therefore, she tried asking Reborn about him.

"Reborn, do you know where Dino is?" Tsuna asked, tilting her head sideways.

"Dino? He already went home this morning," answered Reborn blatantly.

"What?" Tsuna cried out.

'_But I was really looking forward to spending more time together…'_

"What did you expect, Dame-Tsuna? Dino has a mafia family to take care of in Italy. So it'd be a natural for him to return sooner or later."

"I guess… But he didn't even say goodbye," said Tsuna slightly disappointed.

"It couldn't be helped. You were at school when he left. Now get back to studying, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn once more pointed Leon in gun form at her head.

"Hieeee! H-Hai!"

'_I decide to chose this path and get stronger in order to protect everything precious to me._' Those words that Dino had said before resounded in her mind. Because of that sentence, even if it was just for a second Tsuna's reluctance to be a mafia boss wavered, and that if someday she did become a family head, she was sure that would be her reason too.

* * *

><p>Finally, Dino makes his appearance! Yay~ Though I don't think this chapter was all that good... Even so, I did enjoy making it as always, so I hope you guys enjoyed reading it too~<p>

So, I actually didn't mention anything the yellow canary (AKA the soon to be hibird) again. It's not that I've forgotten about it (well to be honest I did a few times... Sorry Hibird! :'( ) but it was because I couldn't seem to find the right time to mention him. I'll be sure to include it in the next chapter.

For the next chapter I'd make it more unique because the concept was one I thought of myself without referring to the original plot of KHR. I was also planning to put in a bit of 1827 fluff too but I'm still not sure yet.

Here are the thanks for chapter 8's reviewers:

**Soul Vrazy**

**Belletiger BT**

**Ayz283**

**BrokenBlackCat**

**RoseJustice**

**onepiecefannumber1**

**RandomReviewer00 ****(anonymous)**

To all seven reviewers thank you very much! I'm sorry I wasn't able to reply to any of your reviews DX

Lastly, I want to thank MiyumiMisaki for becoming my beta reader! XD Thank you so much for your hard work~

Okay that's it for this chapter. Don't forget to RnR! Ciao~


End file.
